Yearning
by ReVamped
Summary: Edward's the new student from America, and everyone wants him. Everyone including Rosalie Swan, Bella's twin sister. But Edward isn't interested in any of these girls, because according to Rose, he's gay; but Bella, well she isn't so sure. AU AH 'Rated M'
1. Chapter 1

**I've spent a long time on fanfiction, under a different name. This is my way of giving something back. Enjoy.  
Credit goes to _IHateJacob1_ for the amazing beta job. Check her out, she's amazing. **

**Oh and just to make it clear, this fanfiction is _SET IN ENGLAND._**

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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You'd think that my mum would give me some warning when she was going to invite friends over and make me cook for them. You'd also think that when I needed to cook a three course meal to impress Dad's new boss, they'd say a few days before. 'Oh Bella, would you mind cooking for us Thursday night?' Instead of these perfectly good requests, which give me plenty of time to prepare, I had three hours and whatever mum had in the kitchen. My mother is so lucky that I make a mean beef casserole. Looking around the kitchen, I decided that everything's probably ready. I've left my mum explicit instructions, so that she can be the one bringing the food to the dining room table. If I was in the kitchen, slaving away over the stove, it might look just a little suspicious. My mother was an awful cook, and when it came to impressing people, or even cooking edible meals, it all came down to me.

But I didn't mind, it let me give something back for my family, and if it meant that Dad impressed his boss, then that's a definite bonus. There had been a few redundancies at Dad's company recently, and I know that my parents are a bit worried about how we'll manage if it happens to him.

I could hear Mum upstairs, asking Dad if she looked alright; Dad informing her that no, her tie-died hippie skirt was not appropriate wear. Rosalie complained that she had plans tonight, and didn't know why I couldn't just stay around to look after the little brat. I was cooking for three tonight— The Boss, The Boss' Wife and The Boss' Son. Lucky me. Rose and I had been laughing about him the other day; she had a bet that he was under 5 ft 6 and overweight. I just thought he was going to be ridiculously awkward, have big glasses and acne. Yeah, we were being stereotypical, but who cared? The family had come over from America to 'revitalize' the company with some new blood. Dad wasn't impressed that they were bringing in a foreigner to do an Englishman's job at all.

The boy was going to be starting at our school after the summer holidays were over though, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing if he was nice. After all, we'd be the only people he knew here, and it must be daunting to start a new school with no knowledge of what it was going to be like, and no friends whatsoever. Especially when coming from a different country. Although Americans speak English, they still have a completely different schooling system and all that crap. I felt kinda sorry for the boy; after all, he's being thrown into the deep end here. Hell, he's probably sitting in the car on the way here imagining us as two stereotypical English girls. What even is a stereotypical English girl? How would he imagine us? Maybe he thought we were fat, chavy girls, who liked to wear their hair in side ponytails and said 'like' and 'um' between every sentence. I couldn't wait for him to see Rose; he was going to be in for a big surprise!

Well you know what they say, speak of the devil and she shall appear. Rosalie glided down the stairs in a purple wrap dress that looked amazing (as always) on her. I looked down at my smart slacks and shirt and decided that it'd be more appropriate for me to change before they got here. Rosalie is my fraternal twin, and she used to be everything that I ever wanted to be. Rosalie was tall, blonde and popular; whilst I was dumpy, mousy and possibly the shyest person you'll ever meet. As I grew up, I saw what constant attention did to her, changing her from my sister, into a stuck up Barbie. Her looks have moulded her into the person she is today, and I have to say, I'm not a fan of who she turned out to be.

"Bella, have you seen my mobile?"

Rosalie lost everything constantly, and seemed to expect me to be able to keep track of it all. At least twice a day, she would barge into my room to demand I reveal the location of her favourite top (the wash), her make up (in her school bag because that's where she will have obviously left it last), her new La Perla panties (it turned out they were in her ex-boyfriend's car). The list goes on.

"Rosalie, chances are you will have put it on the windowsill in the kitchen because that's where we best get reception in the house."

As usual, I was correct. Also as usual, I didn't receive a word of thanks.

"Oh and by the way, they'll be here in about 5 minutes. Mum said to tell you. Are you not going to change into something more_ suitable_?" Rose scrunched her nose, obviously in disdain at my clothes.

Normally, just to spite Rose, I wouldn't have changed; but on this occasion she was right. I needed to look a little more grown up than normal, and my smart-ish outfit just wasn't cutting it today. I hurried upstairs to my room, and began digging through my wardrobe to see if there was anything remotely appropriate. Just as I was opening one of my drawers, the doorbell rang. I grabbed the nearest item of clothing, which happened to be a dress that Mum got me; dragged off the rest of my clothes, and pulled it over my head. Realizing too late which dress I had chosen, I wished then that I had stayed in my original outfit. This dress was similar to the one Rose was wearing, but thankfully quite a bit more modest. It was black, and form-fitting, but flared out below my hips to a few inches above my knees. The front was simple, but the back dropped away to leave my shoulders bear. It would have been a beautiful dress, if I wasn't so afraid of showing so much skin in public. _Ah well, not enough time to change now!_ I thought begrudgingly.

I hurried downstairs, choosing to bypass introductions in the hallway, as seemed to be going on at the moment, choosing instead to mark my position in the dining room, waiting for the 'rents to show our guests in. I looked down, slightly adjusting the position of one of the knives. When I looked up, there was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen smiling at me. I blinked, thinking he might disappear. Tousled bed-head, the colour of Autumn leaves, piercing green eyes and uhhh, the perfect smile.

"Um... hello." I said, trying not to shake when I said it.

"Oh, I do apologize, let me introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen, and it's a pleasure to meet you. You must be Isabella." He said with the sexiest American accent I'd ever heard.

When his strong hand encased mine to shake it, I thought my knees where going to give out. No Bella, bad Bella. He's clearly too pretty to be interested in you.

"That's me. It's a pleasure to meet you too."

He smiled a brilliant smile .

Two equally pretty people joined us in the room.

"Ah, you must be Isabella. It's lovely to meet you." says the lovely looking woman, with penny-coloured hair.

It was so obvious to me how these people created such a beautiful boy. Edward had his mother's facial features and his father's jaw line, his mother's eyes and his father's hair style, his mother's hair colour and his father's cheekbones. However, his father has piercing blue eyes, and his mother, soft orbs of honey brown. Where his phenomenal jade green eyes had come from still remained unknown to me.

"These are my parents, Esme and Carlisle."

My brain snapped back into gear, and my social skills kicked in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Bella."

"Well Bella, if we abbreviate your name, then please, call us Esme and Carlisle. You'll make us feel old!" Esme laughed, a melodic sound that filled the room.

I could already see that Esme and her family were lovely. Surprisingly enough, Edward was nothing like I'd expected. Rosalie and I had joked about how he would be fat and spotty, yet he was a beautiful specimen of a man. Even so, he seemed polite and well-mannered. Nothing like your typical teenager. Then again, I wasn't exactly one to judge. I was about as far from normal as you can get.

I noticed that Edward's attention had been drawn elsewhere for a minute. He was staring at my book, which I had managed to leave out. Under the Greenwood Tree, by Hardy.

"That's a brilliant book, is it yours?"

"Yeah, I love Hardy, he's such a descriptive writer, I always manage to lose myself in his work for hours."

"I completely agree, and I love the way we see his characters, he makes them seem so human."

"Your right, I hadn't pegged you for a reader."

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me, Bella."

I looked down and blushed, both at his implication and the fact that I'd just let it slip that I'd been judging him. Damn, he was good.

"So, have you read any of his other work?"

I realized then and there that Edward Cullen could easily be the death of me. Handsome, polite, and a common interest in one of the things in the world that means the most to me— books. I was about to dive into a discussion about Hardy's other, perhaps more famous work, when we were interrupted by Rosalie's piercing voice.

Both of us jumped, we were so wrapped up in conversation that we had gotten distracted, and forgotten where we were. In fact, we were standing a bit too close to each other for propriety's sake, yet I couldn't find it in me to care.

"Bella, Mum needs your hand plating up the food. She says to come at once," Rosalie was using her most threatening voice with me, but all that changed when she addressed Edward.

"Edward, you just make yourself comfortable at the table. Is there anything that I can get you? Anything you need. I'll stay here and keep you company whilst Bella and Mum bring in the food. I think my dad's just showing your parents something to do with work. I wasn't really listening, it's all so dull, don't you agree?"

"Actually, I'm planning to follow in my father's footsteps. I find his work in the stock market fascinating. The way the market fluctuates depending on a myriad of minute factors. It's all so amazing."

"Oh, well when you put it like that..." Rosalie was flustered. She wasn't used to boys disagreeing with her. Normally they were all tripping over their feet in an attempt to take her word as gospel. Maybe if she went out with Edward (as clearly was her intention) he would manage to bring her down a few notches.

It was a shame really, that Rosalie wanted Edward. But I should have seen it coming, of course. He would be perfect for her to have on her arm as she goes back to school. First dibs at the new meat. Another popularity game for her, and chances were, Edward wouldn't know he was being played until it was too late. He didn't even have anyone to warn him what Rosalie was like.

And it was so shit; Rosalie always got all the decent boys. She was so much prettier than I, that there was just no competition. Boys fell at her feet for a chance to be seen with her. Queen Bee, Rosalie Swan was the best of the best. And that was the way it would always be. Her non-identical shy bookworm of a twin sister never even got a look in.

"Bella, what are you still doing in here. Did you not hear me tell you? Mum needs a hand in the kitchen."

Feeling more and more like CinderBella every minute, I headed into the kitchen to help out. As usual, Rosalie didn't even have to lift a finger.

Heading into the kitchen, I was met with my mother's frantic face. She had her instructions crumpled in one hand, and a saucepan in the other.

"Bella, help," she hissed at me.

"What have you done Mum?"

"I thought the sauce tasted too bland, so I put some of the spice thingies on the shelf over there into it, and now it tastes like shit."

I sighed. It was going to be a very long night; especially if I had to watch Rosalie and Edward flirt across the table the whole time.

Mum's new and improved sauce was pretty much unsalvageable, but it was easy enough to make. I'd just have to throw it together again in time to come out with the mail meal. It wasn't hard. Shoving some oil in a frying pan, I contemplated how unfair it was that I was always the one who had to help out around the house. Mum and Dad, although I knew they loved us equally, always had a tendency to give in to whatever Rose wanted. It was easier, and that was you avoided confrontation. It had always been that way in the family. Rose was always believed over me, and never punished, merely because if you didn't agree with whatever she said, she threw a tantrum and would sulk for days.

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_Inside a shoe store, a mother and her two daughters are looking for shoes. Rosalie picks up a pair of red leather shoes, with gold buckles. They're lovely, but quite gaudy. The little girl adores them._

"_Mummy, I want these ones. They're so pretty. You said that I could have pretty shoes this time because we had to buy boring school shoes last time we were here."_

_Her mother looks at the price on them and sighs._

"_Honey, you know we have to be careful with what we buy these days. Money doesn't grow on trees, and because Daddy gets to stay home at the moment, we have to only buy things we really need. What about these shoes, these are pretty. Look, they have buckles too."_

_Her other, quieter, daughter is holding out a pair of sensible brown shoes with dainty buckles. She's chosen them because she likes them and because they're practical. She can see them lasting forever. But Rosalie's eyes begin to water and her top lip starts to quiver. She knows that this is the easiest way to get what she wants. The shoes that Bella has chosen are nice, but she wants the red ones. A tear runs down her cheek._

"_Oh honey, don't cry, please don't cry."_

_Renee isn't much of a mother. She doesn't really understand children that much and although she loves her two babies with all her heart, she would rather be free and unattached. She knows though, that she can't take care of two children by herself, and somewhere within her, regrets the little mousy girl that was born as a surprise to them. Without her, she would have considered taking the outgoing pretty Rosalie and trying to make it on her own. Bella however, made this a much harder feat to achieve. Much harder._

"_Rosie, Rosie, we'll work it out. If we don't get the shoes this time, I promise we'll get them next time."_

_Rosalie, seeing the end is in sight, begins to cry louder and harder. Renee detests a scene; it might make people gossip about her, and she likes to be the person spreading the gossip, not the person who people are gossiping about._

"_Rosie, we can get the shoes. They are very pretty. Mummy will sort it for you."_

_Renee has an idea. She looks back at the sensible brown shoes that Bella is holding, and then at the sale rack. Picking up Rosalie's red shoes, she looks at the shoes which have been rejected by the other children Bella and Rosalie's age._

"_Bella, honey, you like these brown ones, don't you."_

_Bella hates those brown ones. They're boy's shoes, but she doesn't tell her mother that. When she tries them on, they're too big, but her mum tells her she'll grow into them. When Rosalie tries on her shoes, they pinch her feet; she pretends not to notice though, because she's gotten what she wants. She's pleased that Smella, as she likes to call her sister, has gotten ugly shoes. It makes her feel like she's one upped her. Rosalie is jealous of Bella, of the way she carries herself, of how clever she it. This jealousy will continue for years, and will eat at Rosalie, helping to form her into the person she is today._

_Two weeks later, the red shoes are thrown into the bin, and Rosalie has blisters. She complains so much, she gets to miss school. Bella never says a word about her shoes, not even when people make fun of her for them. This trait will continue for the rest of Bella's life. She will always much prefer to suffer in silence.

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I jolted out of my memories with a jump. It always pained me to think about growing up, none of it had been much fun. I had been the awkward, gangly child, whilst Rosalie went from cute, to pretty, to stunning. She was looking into doing some modelling work at the moment, but Dad was digging in his heels. Personally, I kinda hope that she doesn't get anything, or Dad won't let her. She doesn't need her ego inflating any more than it already is.

I added the water to the sauce that the recipe required, before improvising a little, and adding some white wine. Bringing it to the boil, I added in the thyme, salt and pepper, before trying it.

Perfect.

I smiled a little, it was always nice when something went right.

Plating up the food, I carried it through to the dining room, more like the waitress then the daughter. Hah, CinderBella indeed.

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**Leave a review, and I'll send you the continuation of this teaser...**

"**Bella, are you not joining us?"**

"**Oh, um, I was going to leave you two to get to know each other more... intimately."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Scar: Chapter 2 and is anyone eager to see what these kids get up to?**

**Ihatejacob1: I know I am! :)**

**As usual, much love to IhateJacob1 on the beta front. Check out her stuff, it'll blow your mind.**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Just one side point, there's a slight change in the chapter from the original teaser. Blame Ihatejacob1's brilliant beta'ing skills for that! I know this is the second update in two days, and don't ever expect updates this fast again, but I'm really getting into this story. Hope you are too**

Dinner was an... interesting affair, but thankfully I seemed to spend most of it in the kitchen. Mum gave up all pretence of cooking about half way through the meal. Up until then she kind of followed me into the kitchen whenever I had to go, and hovered about awkwardly while I worked. Announcing to Carlisle and Esme that 'she couldn't cook for shit' and I 'had been in charge of the cooking since I was about 10'.

The parents seemed to be getting on really well. Edward's mum and dad were lovely people, really kind-hearted. The only thing I could fault about both sets of parents was that they seemed oblivious to Rosalie's flirtation with Edward throughout the meal. Hell, even Edward seemed uncomfortable, and he was a guy. Don't guys enjoy it when girls are all over them? She was making any excuse to touch him, bumping into him 'playfully', laughing at everything he said, even when it was about as far from funny as you could get.

Looking at Edward now, he looked intensely uncomfortable. Maybe it was because Rosalie was all over him in front of both of their parents. I'm alright with PDA, but in front of your parents? No way.

People were finishing up, Carlisle patting his non-existent belly, Charlie patting his beer gut. Most people had cleared their plate, well everyone had apart from Rosalie. She was worried about her weight, meaning that she picked at her food, moved it round her plate, and said she was full. The thing was, Rosalie was already probably underweight. I was about the right weight for my height; Rosalie was taller than me and weighed less. If she wasn't careful, she was going to make herself unwell.

Rosalie, clearly seeing that she was the only person who hadn't finished, made an attempt to turn the conversation away from her uneaten plate of food. Her victim? Me. As usual.

"Bella, you must have been hungry! Polished that right off. Not particularly attractive to bolt down your food. I don't know where it all goes, because it's not like your that fat for the amount you eat."

_That was even worse than usual_, I thought, feeling a little ashamed. She was really pushing it. Normally she'd save insults like that for when we were by ourselves, she wouldn't try something like that in front of our parents ever.

I looked towards my mum and dad, but both of them seemed oblivious. Maybe they didn't want to cause a scene in front of the guests. I noticed Edward was also looking at my parents. He seemed shocked that they didn't so much as react. I saw him and his mum make eye contact, and it was a good thing I was an observant person, otherwise I would have missed the infinitesimal shake of her head.

Carlisle, seemingly wanting to break the awkward silence that had risen, said, "Right, well does anyone want a hand in clearing the table?"

Renee, sensing the tension in the room thanked him and stood up to clear the table. Just remembering, she quickly added, "Oh and Rosalie, do entertain Edward, you two seem to be getting on so well. I'm sure he doesn't want to spend any more time with us oldies then he absolutely has to. Take him up to your bedroom and show him some of the holiday photos or something, whatever you kids do these days."

Rosalie jumped to her feet, obviously eager to spend any time possible with Edward. Being told to take him to her room was probably akin to Christmas coming early. Renee was clearly the most oblivious parent in the entire universe. It'll be an absolute relief when I get to leave and go to University. Somewhere very far away, here I come. Somewhere where I can make excuses about why I'm not coming home for Christmas to cook for the million relatives Mum has invited over. Hah, Rosalie can cook; it's her damn turn anyway.

I grabbed my book that I left on the side, and headed upstairs too. If they got to leave the table instead of spending time with the 'rents, I wasn't hanging around down there either. _Ah, Under the Greenwood Tree, how I've missed you_. Rosalie was clearly manhandling Edward into her bedroom, chivvying him along and everything. Just as I was about to turn into my bedroom instead of Rosalie's, Edward noticed where I was headed.

"Bella, are you not joining us?"

"Oh, um, I was going to leave you two to get to know each other more... intimately." I choked out, trying not to sound too depressed. I just had to accept the fact that Rosalie had Edward wrapped around her finger—as they all were. I had to forget about him. There, that wasn't a lie, and would clearly give Edward the message of what he had in store if he went into that room unchaperoned.

His eyes widened, and I thought I detected a bit of fear. "I was hoping that you'd join us, we didn't get to spend too much time around each other at the dinner table."

Oh God, he was one of those gentlemanly boyfriends that Rose had attracted before. They never lasted long. He was the type who felt it would be rude to leave out his girlfriend's twin sister, so I ended up tagging along on their dates like some really awkward baby sister. Let's just say Rose gets rid of them pretty fast.

Eh, maybe that meant her and Edward wouldn't last too long, and I wouldn't have to see her rub the pretty in my face for more than a few weeks. Now that would be a real treat.

"Yeah, ok, I guess I could come hang with you guys. That'd be really nice."

Edward smiled, and if I hadn't have known better, I would have thought that he was genuinely happy about this. He was a fucking good actor, I'll tell you that. Rosalie was glaring daggers at me; I could see her out of the corner of my eye.

Although Rosalie has done some pretty terrible things to me in the past, maybe I should be scared?

_The ten year-old girl was cycling as fast as she could down a steep hill. She loved to cycle, and had taught herself about a year ago. Her sister still had to use training wheels, a fact that Bella never let her forget. Bella appreciated having something over Rosalie, normally the odds were severely in the pretty blonde girl's favour. Popular, stunning, and the apple of her parents eye, Rosalie had it all. Or at least that's how it seemed to Bella. She wasn't resentful of this though, she merely appreciated having the chance to give Rosalie a taste of her own medicine._

_Bella had gotten a new bike for her birthday. It was a mountain bike with gears, shock absorbers and mud guards. Rosalie hated it, and teased Bella relentlessly about it, but Bella could not have cared less. It was a bit scratched up, because Renee had got it second hand, but it was hers._

_Bella laughed, thinking about the pink Barbie bike that Rosalie had gotten. Rosalie hated it, not because she didn't like Barbie, or because the bike wasn't pretty or brand new, but because it 'isn't as good as Bella's.' Rosalie wanted a new pink Barbie bike with gears everything that Bella's had. Charlie had promised to do the best that he could, but Rosalie had run off in a strop._

_Bella felt the wind blow through her hair as she tore up the road. She was riding in the middle of the countryside on a route that she had done a thousand times before with Charlie; but now she had her new bike, she was allowed to go by herself. She didn't know this, but the ending of that weekly exercise Charlie had gotten whenever Bella wanted to go out would bring upon the onset of his beer gut, which put even more strain on their marriage, as Renee looked at Charlie in disgust._

_Suddenly, the bike wobbled underneath Bella, and desperately fighting to retain her balance, she was sent tumbling to the ground. Gasping with the shock and the pain, Bella looked at her bruised knees and scraped arms, and had to stop herself from bursting into tears. She clambered to her feet, only to find that she couldn't put any weight on her right ankle. She picked up the bike, wondering whether she could ride home with only one foot, only to find that there was something wrong with the front wheel._

_Crouching down, she realized that there was a badge stuck in the inside rim of her wheel. A Barbie princess badge._

_Rosalie._

_Jealous of Bella's new-found freedom that came with her bike, Rosalie had sabotaged it. Unthinkingly though, she had used one of her own badges, catching her red handed. Bella dragged the bike into an upright position, and tried to wheel it home, only to find that she couldn't with one ankle bust. Instead, she dragged the bike over into the bushes, moaning in pain as she did so. First grabbing the badge out of where it was stuck in the wheel, she hid the bike as best she could in amongst the branches, and hoped that no one would notice it there. Then she began the long walk home._

_When she arrived back at her house, she was white with pain and close to fainting. She dragged herself over to the house, and rang the doorbell. Her mum came to the door after a minute or two._

"_Oh hello darling, did you have a good ride?"_

_Renee then noticed that the bike was missing._

"_Where's your bike honey? Have you left it outside?"_

"_No, Mum, I had to leave it, by Pednor Road."_

_Renee wasn't happy with this explanation, and a mixture of emotions played across her face. Settling on anger, she reacted accordingly._

"_And why have you left your new, expensive bike where anyone could come along and steal it?"_

"_There was a puncture in the front wheel and I fell off."_

_Renee seemed to register the state of her daughter._

"_You fell off? I thought you were a proficient rider. That's how your father persuaded me to get you this bike. How did you manage to fall off? Were you going to fast? Did you try to jump off something?"_

"_No Mum, it wasn't my fault!"_

"_It wasn't your fault you fell off your bike? Whose fault was it? Rosalie's?"_

"_Yes! I've been trying to tell you. Rosalie stuck this pin in the front wheel of my bike, when I was going downhill, it must have just leaked enough air to make it so that the wheel couldn't take my weight."_

_Bella was brandishing the badge in her mother's face, swaying in a combination of anger and pain. However, Renee was not having any of it._

"_Get to your room; how dare you accuse your sister like that! You won't be getting tea tonight!"_

_Fortunately Renee never had time to carry out her threat, as when Bella got into the hallway of their house, she collapsed, the badge spinning out of her hand. Rosalie, attracted by the shouting, quietly picked it up as Renee bawled Charlie's name throughout the house._

_In case you're wondering, they never did find Bella's bike again, and Rosalie never got a new bike either. Once Bella didn't have one, she didn't feel the need to have one either._

Yeah, Rosalie has done some pretty shitty things to me, but we're twin sisters. Blood is thicker than water and all that. I know that she'll always be there for me and look out for me, and that's what matters.

"Edward, are you thirsty?"

Edward, who was perched on the end of the bed, next to Rosalie, whilst I was settled in her arm chair, perked up. It was adorably cute, his head shot up and his eyes brightened.

"I wouldn't say no if you wanted to get me a drink, Rosalie."

"Yeah, me too. Bella, I'm quite thirsty as well. Just run downstairs and grab us something to drink will you?"

Ah, another one of Rose's ploys to get me out of the room. I stood to go, when I noticed Edward clenching his fists.

"I'm fine actually Bella, I've changed my mind, and I'm sure if Rosalie wants a drink it'll be no trouble for _her _to nip downstairs and get it."

Edward has an amazing accent; he sounded so cute when he speaks, so, well, American. I've never been to America, so apart from on like, TV and stuff, I've never had any prolonged exposure to an accent like his, and the more he spoke, the more the way he talked was growing on me.

"No, no. Bella doesn't mind running and getting me a drink. Do you Bella?" Rose smiled sweetly at me, all while glaring at me with her eyes. I could always read her expressions, even when she tried to hide them. I guess that's what prolonged exposure to her does to you.

Edward was seething now, it was quite weird to see. I think he must have been angry that Rose was making me fetch her a drink, instead of going herself. This is just normal in my household. However, if he was going to date Rosalie, he'd better get used to waiting on her hand and foot.

I turned to the door only to be stopped by both Rosalie and Edward both speaking at the same time. Edward glanced at Rosalie and then continued what he was trying to say.

"Bella, let me come with you, to get drinks. You've made such an amazing meal, it's only fair!" Edward said, with the sweetest tone.

"Edward, honestly, it's fine. You're the guest, and that means you eat our food and accept our hospitality." I replied, trying to appease Rosalie.

Thankfully Edward laughed at my lame joke, although Rose just rolled her eyes. I'm not even sure Rose has a sense of humour to get what's funny in the first place.

"Rose, what were you about to say?"

"Oh yeah, get me a Cherry Coke will you. Don't get one of those crap cans of the shit that Mum buys though, just like make it from scratch. It only takes like 5 minutes, and it tastes so much better."

I sighed. Rosalie could not get any more pretentious or self-centred. She embarrassed me a lot, with how she thought she was the centre of everyone's world. Maybe it would be good for her to get a job as a model, that way she would be the centre of people's attention day in and day out. She'd finally get what she's always wanted.

I thought about that as I made Rose her stupid Cherry Coke. Whether or not it would be good for her to simply have what she's always wanted and aspired to be, or to get denied and have to come back to earth. God knows if the latter happens there would be hell to pay for years. It would be everyone else's fault but hers. I guess that's Rose for you, she can't handle being blamed for something.

Normally, I would have left them to it, rather than go in and join them again, but dammit, I've made this stupid Cherry Coke, I want someone to enjoy it! I loudly made my way up the stairs; in case Rose has let Edward go further then I needed to see. I figured that they must have heard me by now; I was making the equivalent amount of noise to a small elephant on these stairs.

I knocked loudly on Rose's door, as an extra precaution, and wondered what I'd see when I went in. Would Rose's top be on sideways, and Edward be shifting uncomfortably in his seat, desperate for some form of release; would Rose and him share bed head and swollen lips? When I heard a muffled 'come in,' I decided that it was probably best to find out, rather than let my imagination run away with me.

To my surprise, I saw two teenagers, sitting next to each other (at a perfectly acceptable difference) looking at a book on their laps. At first, I thought the scene was completely innocent, until I realized that Edward was being shown the pictures from last summer, where Rosalie had discovered that she wore a bikini as well as any model.

Sighing, I picked up the book that I'd left in here. Books have been my escape all my life. They're something that parents can't threaten to take away or anything like that. They were the one constant, and they'd always made me feel safe and loved. Inside a book, I was safe from the world.

Under the Greenwood Tree was a particularly good book for a situation such as this, where I needed to get lost, because I had read it enough times to know exactly what was going on if I drifted off for a while, but not enough times to be able to quote along with the book. To my surprise however, Edward had read it enough times to quote from it as well as the next scholar.

"To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall."

"Oh wow, you read with so much passion Edward. Well, not read, oh you know what I mean." Edward laughed softly at my stammering.

"I reread that book countless times about a year ago; I went through a phase when all I would read was Hardy."

"Really? Wow, I'd love to be able to do that. My choice of reading material changes according to what mood I'm in. Suggesting I explore one author in more detail is like saying I should only eat one food group."

Edward's eyes lit up, as I imagine mine did at the prospect of intellectual conversation. "Yeah, I understand where you're coming from with that, but what did you think of the relationship between.—"

"—Oh Edward, look at this picture. Have you ever seen water that blue? This was the holiday when a man came up to me on the beach and told me I looked like an angel." Rosalie exclaimed, excitedly pointing to the book.

And just like that, Rosalie had turned all the attention back to herself once more. I delved again into my book, but not getting very far. All the time I was watching Edward's facial expressions out of the corner of my eye. If anything, I would have said that he seemed bored, but that couldn't be right. He was being shown pictures of Rosalie in a bikini in various different poses.

His voice jolted me from my thoughts as Edward addressed me. "Is this you in this picture?"

I was about to inquire as to which picture, when Rosalie interrupted. "Yeah, that's just Bella, nothing special." She quipped dismissing any interest in me.

Edward however proceeded to ignore her. "You look amazing. You're like, glowing with happiness."

I quickly got up and looked over his shoulder, making sure Rosalie hadn't taken a picture of me in some embarrassing position and kept it in there for blackmail.

It wasn't really anything special, just a picture of me on the beach. I was wearing my bikini, but have a sarong wrapped around my waist. I was playing with Dad for the first time in God knows how long, and although I'm making a right fool of myself, I look so happy to be there. Edward's right, it really is quite a cute picture.

"So Edward, are you doing anything tomorrow?" Rose asked, eager to take the attention away from my picture.

"Umm, no I don't think I am Rosalie, why?"

"Well I was just thinking, seeing as we looked at so many bikini pictures, that we should make that image a reality and go to the pool together." She said, seductively, batting her eyelashes.

"I'd like that Rosalie." He responded.

"What?" Both Rose and I gasp at the same time. I for one was not expecting that response. It ticked me off a bit, to know that he's given in and is overlooking Rose's brash personality in favour of her amazing body. I think Rose is just surprised that he agreed to it readily. Rose seems to take the acceptance as a signal that Edward likes her too, because she hugs him, practically throwing herself on to his lap and rubbing her tits all over his chest. I think I see Edward sigh, but I can't really tell because Rose's mane of hair is in the way.

Well I'm pretty sure that he either sighed, or sniffed her hair. When Rose is around, I've seen boys do both.

He gently deposited Rose back in her place on the bed, and turned to me. I was not ashamed to say I may have been sulking a little by that point.

"Your coming too right Bella?" He asked, hope in his voice.

History repeated itself, as both Rosalie and I sputtered 'what' once more.

"Well you said 'we' Rosalie, I automatically assumed that included Bella into things. After all, we couldn't just leave her here, by herself." He offered; oh yeah, definitely the gentlemanly type.

I was pretty sure Rosalie wanted to say something along the lines of 'yes we fucking well can,' however she resisted; instead choosing to smile simperingly. I really did like Edward, and any excuse to piss Rosalie off is good enough for me.

"Sure, what the hell, course I'll come." I answered, acting like I didn't care one way or another.

Purposefully not making eye contact with Rosalie, I had just settled down into my book again, when there was a sharp rap on the door.

"Edward, Rose, Carlisle and Esme are leaving, come down and say goodbye. Edward, if you want to, I'm sure that you could stay for the night. Your parents will be fine about it, I'm sure. After all, a handsome man like you is sure to have had quite a few 'sleepovers'."

I walked briskly over to the door before Mum embarrassed both herself and the family even more.

"Hi Mum, just the three of us in here, you know, hanging out."

"Oh, Bella, you're in here as well." Renee appeared to be searching for a way to get Rosalie and Edward alone together again, but gave up after a few seconds intensive thinking. "Well you kids best come along then, don't want to keep your mum and dad waiting."

We all headed downstairs and congregated in the hall. Whilst Esme and Carlisle were thanking my parents for inviting them and organizing various parental activities for them to engage in. Rosalie and I were saying goodbye to Edward. Rose stepped up to hug Edward, but Edward somehow sidestepped faster than I could see, so that he had Rosalie's arm in one hand, and a pen he quickly pulled out of his pocket in the other.

Scribbling on Rosalie's arm, he said, "Give me a call to arrange details of tomorrow. I can't wait." Seemingly pleased that she'd one upped me by being the person he gave his number to organize things, Rosalie stepped back to allow me to say goodbye to Edward.

Taking me by surprise, he pulled me into a hug and wrapped his arms around me briefly. If I wasn't so lightheaded from his very musky man-smell, I would have sworn I felt him sniff my hair. Edward grabbed my hand, bent over and pressed it to his lips. As usual, I blushed the colour of a tomato.

"Thank you for a wonderful meal Bella, it was a pleasure."

"The pleasure was all mine, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow." I murmured, still unable to take my eyes off the hand he had kissed.

Pressing my hand to his lips again, he followed his parents out of the door. Renee turned to look at me suspiciously, and then looked between Rose and I.

"Well that was quite odd; he seemed to quite like you Bella." Renee quipped, a little unsatisfied.

With her usual tact and grace, my mother summed up the situation. Rosalie, however, was not as amused. She stomped up to her bedroom, where she wouldn't emerge until it was time to leave to go swimming. Edward's behaviour didn't make sense though. Why did he kiss my hand, but not even bother to hug Rosalie. Unless, unless maybe it was me he was interested in after all.

I thought back over the evening: the offering to accompany me to make drinks, inviting me tomorrow, complimenting me on my one remotely nice picture when Rosalie looked like a model in all of hers, not letting me go to my room, but instead drawing me back to accompany him and Rose...

Oh who was I kidding? That's all just wishful thinking. Standing next to Rosalie, no one would pick plain old CinderBella.

**Just to add a little incentive to review... if you leave one, you get the continuation of this teaser:**

**"I meant to talk to you about Edward. I don't think he appreciated you throwing yourself all over him. I mean, he's clearly a little shy." Wow, you realy hit the nail on the head there Rose. "And your being so forward obviously made him uncomfortable. I know he's very handsome, but can you not just back off? It's clear that _he _doesn't like _you_."**

**So tell me, what's the coolest birthday present you've ever gotten?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Scar: Chapter 3, and things are heating up at the pool ;)**

**Ihatejacob1: my fault for not getting the chapter out sooner, I was preoccupied by a little b**** called life :(**

**Much love to Ihatejacob1, although she was running a little late, she changes all my 'tits' to 'breasts' and doesn't let me run my mouth off.**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

As usual, I was running late. I'm sorry, but you can't blame me, I had 3 hours before I had to get ready to go swimming with Rosalie and Edward, so I settled down with a book in bed, to have a quick read; next time I looked up we had to leave in 45 minutes!

I jumped to my feet hastily and threw open the cupboard door, all my summer stuff was on the top shelf, and I had to reach to get it. Jumping up, I craned my neck and peered over the top of the shelf. What I would have given to be Rosalie's height. I reached my arm over the shelf and began to rummage around. Hat, no; sarong, no; skimpy skirt I would never wear, no. I reached back as far as I could on the shelf, feeling in the corners and the crevices in case I'd missed it. Ah, one bikini.

Well, one rather small bikini, I thought in utter horror. I swore it was bigger than this when I bought it...

Holding up the scraps of material, I examined them. Trying to figure out how they'd shrunk. Maybe they stretched when you put them on or something. I pulled off my pyjamas (SpongeBob, because I'm cool like that) and climbed into my _costume_. As I'd originally thought, it was much too small. The top was stretched to accommodate my breasts, and the triangles of fabric barely covered my nipples. As for the pants, well I won't go into any more detail then completely inappropriate.

I pulled off the bathing suit, making a mental note to throw it in the bin and buy a new one at some point, and sighed. I guessed Rosalie was going to get her way after all— I can't go swimming if I don't have a suit. Wait a minute, Rosalie was bound to have a spare. She was talking the other day about her new bikini; surely I could have her old one or something.

An image of Rosalie's old bikini came to me, and I shuddered. Maybe I could request one that wasn't multicoloured with diamonds on; however I had a feeling that Rose would give me whichever one she thought would look worse, just so she'd look better by comparison, as if she needed to do that in order accomplish such a thing.

I pulled my pyjamas back on and hurried to Rose's room. She was over by her mirror, applying mascara.

"Why are you putting mascara on? Won't it just come off as soon as you get wet?"

She rolled her eyes, as if I were some inexperienced fool at life. "Bella, the whole point of us going swimming is so that I can look good and impress Edward. Make him want me, you know? Not so I can look like a drowned rat. My face and hair will be going nowhere _near _that filthy water. I hate the thought that I'm going to be stepping foot in this stupid pool anyway. I'm going to have to scrub a layer of skin off my body to get rid of the germs; not to mention that chlorine is _so _bad for your skin. You'll probably get spots you know; you really should give a thought toward dermatological hygiene."

Well that was a lie; my complexion wasn't one to get spots. If anyone was getting spots it would be her; but then again, she'd find some way to cover them up.

"And anyway, why aren't you ready to go, Mum says that she'll take us in half an hour. Please tell me that you're not wearing those things. I won't leave the house with my sister looking like a vagrant. I mean I knew that your fashion sense was bad, but this is truly awful. Hobo does not look good on you Bella."

I sighed. "Rosalie, these are my pyjamas. I need to borrow a bikini, mine doesn't fit any more."

I saw every thought that went through Rose's head. Maybe it's just a twin thing, or maybe it's just because I'm more observant, but she really was like an open book. Flicking through a variety of emotions, she finally settled on spite, she was going to say no. Then an idea lit up her face.

"Sure you can Bella. But I'm not sure what I have that'll fit you." She replied, with unnatural sweetness, and mischievous smile.

She looked me up and down, as if assessing me. But I knew that it was merely an act. She'd known what size I wore since she was old enough to tease me about having no breasts. Thankfully I grew out of that phase of my life and developed a decent rack. Obviously Rosalie's were bigger, but I liked to think that mine were plenty— a handful was all one needed.

Rosalie emerged from her cupboard brandishing her oldest bikini. I should have known that she was going to try and play this trick. She didn't want me to come, but she knew that she had too many bikinis for her to get away with not lending me one. So instead she was going to try and embarrass me into not going. The bikini she was offering was one of Rosalie's less modest swimsuits. It was probably her most revealing, now that I thought about it. I was a bit surprised that she wasn't wearing it actually.

"I've grown out of it. The material won't cover my boobs any more, and I'm slightly reluctant to flash the pool without knowing who would be there. Flashing Edward though? Now that I wouldn't mind." She said with a devious look glistening in her eyes.

I laughed to myself at the thought of Rosalie flashing Edward. I had gotten the feeling that he was a bit of a prude, when we had met him yesterday. Well that was what I was taking from his reaction to Rose. He was a guy after all, which automatically meant he liked her (or that's how it seemed to me). Therefore, I had summarized that the only explanation was if he was a prude, and unsure of his way around girls.

It didn't completely make sense though; he was too pretty to be a prude. Surely he would have had girls throwing themselves all over him. Maybe girls were less forward in America, and he hadn't has as much experience with them propositioning him, or some shit like that. It was hard to believe, but seemed the only reasonable explanation.

"Bella, don't smirk at me. It's not an attractive look on you. Then again, what is?" – Cheap shot, as usual—

"I meant to talk to you about Edward. I don't think he appreciated you throwing yourself all over him. I mean, he's clearly a little shy." – Wow, you really hit the nail on the head there Rose— "And you're being so forward obviously made him uncomfortable. I know he's very handsome, but can you not just back off. It's clear that he doesn't like you."

Throughout here little tirade, Rosalie had been getting more and more insistent, as I paid less and less attention. It was a vicious cycle.

"Bella! Listen to me!"

"Rosalie, I'm listening, please don't shout." I replied calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

"Ok, look Bella. I didn't want to be so blunt about this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. You drooling all over Edward reflects badly on the family, especially as you were ogling it in front of Cumbria and—"

I cut her off. "Cumbria?"

"Yes, Cumbria, you know, Edward's father. Or did you not notice whilst you were fawning all over him that there were other people in the room?"

White anger burned through my veins. "Rosalie, I was perfectly aware that Edward's parents were there, however Edward's dad is called Carlisle and Edward's mum is called Esme." I corrected her, feeling perhaps a little superior.

"Oh, that's it." She murmured, clearly hating being outdone. "I knew it was some stupid name like that. Carlisle's in Cumbria anyway, so at least I got the right part of the country. Anyway, you acting like a _whore_ reflects badly on all of us; and I don't want to give Edward the wrong impression."

"Rosalie..." I started, about to give her the biggest ultimatum of her life.

"No, Bella, don't worry about it. You don't need to apologise, I forgive you," she interrupted, feigning kindness. "I know it must be hard for you to watch Edward and me together, I could tell that you had a small crush on him. Then again, so could everyone else. But you're going to need to get used to it. If things go according to plan, Edward and I could be an item soon, and he'll be around here a lot more often."

I was literally speechless. I couldn't even think of my usual snarky response.

"Go try your swimsuit on, we've got to going in..." She checked her watch "...15 minutes." She looked at me. "Well what are you waiting for? Go on."

She turned back to her mascara, and with that I was dismissed.

I didn't know what I had done to set Rose off like that—then again, I never knew. She had thoroughly assigned me my place as the pumpkin at the ball.

-B&E-

I looked at myself in the mirror unsatisfied. The bikini had shocked me. I had pulled it on expecting it to be too big in the cup and too small for my hips; but when I had pulled it on, it had been a perfect fit. Snug in all the right places.

At first, I had been worried about how revealing it was, but I had no other choice in the matter. I should have thought about this in advance and bought myself a new one, I only really had myself to blame. Now I was just resigned to the fact that I was going to go out in this skimpy material. I grabbed some jeans and a random t-shirt. Pulling on my amazing Paramore Limited Edition Hoodie, I grabbed my towel and I was ready to go out the door.

I, unlike Rosalie, saw no point in applying make up to then have it washed off again when I did some swimming. Because despite Rose's warnings about me getting acne, and the chlorine in the water being _so _bad for me, I didn't give a shit. I loved swimming, and Rosalie was just jealous that it was one of the few things that I could actually beat her in; at least once I had gotten over my phobia of water anyway...

_The sun is beating down on two girls, who are splashing around in a beautiful pool. They're both wearing arm bands, and their father watches carefully from the side, ready to step in if any of their games get too exuberant. They're on holiday in France for the first time, staying in an isolated villa, miles from anywhere. It's the first time they've ever had an entire pool to themselves and they're beyond excited._

"_Bella, I'm Rapidash, the fire pokemon, nothing you can do can ever hurt me." The little blonde girl boasted, with superiority radiating off her._

"_But Rosalie, we're in a pool, being Rapidash would be rubbish because she'll die when her tail gets wet. You have to be a water pokemon in a pool! Look at me, I'm Gyaradose!" The brunette, slightly more plain girl reasoned. The little girl dives forward into the pool and flails about madly. "Roar ROAR. Daddy, look at me! I'm Gyaradose!"_

"_Darling that's wonderful, you're doing such a good job. Can you do a Hyper Beam too?" Charlie chuckled to himself. His daughters had recently been obsessed with pokemon, and he had bought them the cards, __played the games and read them the books. It wasn't often that he could find something in common with both of the girls. Normally Renee was monopolising Rosalie, and Bella, well she seemed to be off in a world of her own most of the time, and he hated to disturb her._

_He watched Bella spinning round in a circle and trying to shoot water out of her mouth. He was proud of her. All of her teachers commented on how bright she was on Parents Evening, saying that she was intelligent beyond the level of most 8 year-olds. Rosalie on the other hand, they always seemed to say was more concerned with the way she looked, then with the work she was given. Even at 8 years old, you could see the shadow of the woman she would grow up to be._

_Even Charlie could see the poignant juxtaposition between his daughters, especially when they played together, as they did now. He just hoped that their differences would allow them to be unique, rather than being the cause of hardship between the two of them. He was also aware of Renee's favouritism towards Rosalie, and while if he was to truly look within his heart of hearts, he would be more inclined towards Bella, he still tried to encourage Renee to treat them both equally._

_He realized that he had little chance of success though._

_He also realized that the gap between himself and Renee was increasing, and there wasn't much that he could do about it. She harboured some resentment towards him, although for what, he didn't know. He had tried everything to solve the problem, but nothing seemed to work. His wife was slowly drawing away from him, and there was nothing that he could do._

_He only hoped that this gap would not end in divorce. He could not bear for his children to live like that; without the security of two parents united. That would break his heart._

_Hearing Renee's voice calling him, he looked between his children and his wife. She was beckoning to him with increasing vigour. Although he was reluctant to leave his children alone in the pool, he trusted that nothing would go wrong. After all, he would only be away for 5 minutes or so._

"_Bella, Rosie, I'm just going to go and speak to your mother. Be careful ok. Shout if you need me."_

_The girls nodded absent-mindedly. Neither was particularly interested. They had moved on from pretending to be pokemon to pretending to be mermaids._

"_Ok, Bella, I'm the queen Mermaid, and you're my servant. I sit up on the side and comb my hair, looking beautiful, while you swim around and do stuff for me."_

"_But Rose, can I not have a turn at being the Queen? I never get a go!"_

_The blonde girl scrunched her nose at the idea. "Bella, you can't be the queen because you're not pretty enough. The Queen of the Mermaids has to be beautiful, and have long flowing blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone knows that."_

_Bella didn't respond. There was no arguing with Rosalie, and she didn't know that she was every bit as pretty as the little blonde girl. Why would she? No one had ever taken the time to tell her she was pretty. Rosalie delighted in hurting Bella's feelings; Renee didn't care, and Charlie, although he would have had he had known how Bella felt, was much too emotionally reserved to say something like that._

"_Bella. The first thing your Queen wants you to do is to swim over to the deep end." Bella hated the deep end. She hated not being able to stand up if she got in trouble swimming. "Bella. NOW!"_

"_Rosie, I don't want to! I hate the deep end. I hate not being able to stand up. Daddy never lets us play in the deep end anyway, even when he is here."_

"_I'm your Queen, Bella, and you have to do what I say, otherwise I shall say 'off with your head,' and your head shall be cut off." Rosalie and Bella had recently read Alice in Wonderland in school._

_Bella began to cry. "I won't do it! It's silly and stupid and I might drown and..."_

_Rosalie interrupted her, "Just because you're a big cry baby, you have to do it without your arm bands. Or I'll tell everyone in school that you wet the bed."_

"_But I don't wet the bed! Neither of us do!"_

"_Yeah but the people in school don't know that."_

_Bella, unable to imagine a greater punishment then the people in her school thinking she was incontinent, obediently slipped off her arm bands, sobbing with terror. Both of the girls knew how to swim, but neither of them had tried to swim more than a few metres, and definitely not without an adult nearby._

_Rosalie laughed from the side, as Bella flailed in the water, longingly looking at her arm bands. If only she'd kept her mouth shut in the first place, she'd still have them on. Bella kicked off from the wall, doggy paddling as best she could. As she got more into it, she relaxed, well at least until she splashed water in her eye. "Ow. OW." Bella's foot went down, but she couldn't reach the bottom. She began to flail about in the water, crying for help, as Rosalie began to scream._

"_Daddy! DADDY!"_

_Their parents were in the middle of a heated argument when they heard their child's shouting. Renee sighed and rolled her eyes, but Charlie could tell from the tone of their voices that there was something wrong. Jumping off his chair, he sprinted out to the poolside._

_He would arrive just in time to administer CPR to Bella. Rosalie, when questioned about why Bella wasn't in the shallow end, and why she wasn't wearing her arm bands would lie through her teeth, leaving Bella at fault, and Rosalie blameless. Although Charlie always suspected foul play, he would never get up the guts to defy Renee and go against Rosalie's version of things. Renee punished Bella harshly, but Bella never said a word._

Charlie used to be my best friend, my one confidant. But over the years, we withdrew from the family. His eyes had slowly glazed over with time, and he had let himself go. It was easier for him to fit in as best he could with his family, then to summon up the will power to resist Renee's demands. Or at least, that was what I figured. I knew there was something up with Mum and Dad's relationship, I just didn't know what.

It had taken me a while to get over my aversion to water after I almost drowned, but once I had gotten back in the water, you couldn't get me out! I took up swimming club, and only gave up when my periods started. Renee couldn't deal with the hassle of me wanting to use tampons, and after a while of pestering her, I just gave up. I still went to the pool quite often though so I knew that I hadn't lost any of my speed or stamina. I ran after school some days as well, but as it was the holidays, and I just couldn't be bothered.

I heard Rosalie calling me from her room. "Bella, let's go already! Come on!"

Moving on autopilot, I hurried downstairs, found Mum's car keys, handbag and glasses, made sure I had enough money to pay for me to get in, made sure Mum had enough money for Rose to bum enough off her to get in, left Dad a little message saying where we were in case he woke up from his nap on the couch and worried, and stood by the door, waiting to go.

5 minutes later, Rosalie arrived, told us we were running late, and proceeded to go sit in the car; shotgun, of course. Sighing, was about to make my way out and join her, when Mum stopped me.

"Bella, where are my glasses?"

"In your bag mum."

"Where's my bag?"

"Where it always is. On top of the chair in the white room."

"Oh. Have you two got enough money?"

"I have, Rose probably won't, but it doesn't matter. You have enough money in your purse to pay for her to get in."

My mother looked uncomfortable. "Um, thank you Bella. Now go get in the car." Ahh, she hates thanking people, apologizing to people, or admitting that she's wrong. No wonder she didn't bother talking to me often.

-B&E-

We arrived at the pool ten minutes late, but it wasn't the end of the world. Rosalie didn't seem to mind anyway. She had this thing about making people wait for her; I was pretty sure she liked to call it being fashionably late. I liked to call it 'Rosalie getting off on making everyone's day revolve around her.'

Rosalie just hopped out as soon as the car pulled up in the car park for the swimming pool. She'd already bummed a tenner off mum, which was like £5 on top of what she actually needed. I on the other hand had taken the money out of my savings. If Dad lost his job then we would be skint enough without me asking for cash all the time.

Edward was waiting by the entrance, leaning up against the wall. All he needed was a cigarette in his mouth to look like a young James Dean. I could see Rosalie eyeing the leather jacket that he was wearing, probably trying to figure out where it was from. She sauntered over to him, heavily exaggerating the swaying motion of her hips, to the point where I was a little worried that she was going to fall over. Sighing, I followed after her.

"Nice jacket. Isn't that from Prada? We don't get many in the shops over here, it's an American make after all, so I'm not as up to scratch on some of their clothing. It's nice to see someone with as much fashion sense as me though."

Edward seemed completely oblivious to what she was saying, until a few seconds after she was finished, his eyes flashed with recognition."What, this old thing? It was my dad's when he was my age. I'm pretty sure he got it from a junk store. We've both taken really good care of it though, so I guess it must still look like new."

Rosalie, who had reached out her hand to stroke the arm of the jacket in a sensual manner recoiled immediately.

"_That's _from a _junk store_?"

"Yeah, you can get some pretty good stuff in there. I get my clothes from charity shops all the time. I love knowing that what I'm wearing has history."

Surely Edward could see the look of disgust on Rosalie's face. She refused to let anything that didn't have a designer label touch her skin.

"Come on then, let's go in," Edward said, leading the way, but pausing to hold open the door for both Rosalie and I. He was such a gentleman, Rose was going to eat him alive.

Edward refused to let us pay for our own ticket each, instead handing enough money for the three of us to the girl on the desk with a polite smile. I swear, she nearly fainted. Edward had no idea how good looking he was, or the things that he could do with a single smile.

I had been trying to ignore the way he looked today, after all, he wasn't mine— he was Rosalie's, and I wouldn't like it if someone was eyeing up my almost boyfriend. Even if it was my twin sister. He did look particularly delectable though, with his hair tousled into a kind of styled bed-head. His skin was flawless, as it always seemed to be (yeah, I had so much to go on having met him, what, once before,) and his eyes ridiculously twinkly. He was my perfect man.

Another thing that annoyed me about Rose wanting Edward so much was that she had a completely different type to him. The guys she likes are older, and much broader; the type of people who work out like every day at the gym. She usually went for darker hair than his copper tresses anyway, because she liked the contrast to be more distinct in photos. He wasn't her type at all, _he was mine_.

Sometimes, I really hated my sister.

"Edward, I'll meet you by the exit from the changing rooms, ok?" Rose said with a seductive smile.

He smiled and nodded, then calmly strolled into the gents changing room.

"What, am I not included in your plans today Rose?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Edward, _I'll _meet you by the exit from the changing rooms, ok?" I mimicked her voice in high falsetto.

"Well I was thinking that you could do what you always do, and go swim up and down, whilst Edward and I chatted. After all, you were only invited because Edward felt sorry for you."

I had reacted to Rosalie's words cruelly, so she behaved that way as well. She obviously wouldn't normally say stuff like that without provocation. _Yes she would, she does it all the time._

Rose had stormed off into the changing room, and had quickly occupied the only free private cubicle. I wasn't complaining, but I had just as many issues changing in front of strangers as she did. Thankfully, I had my swimming costume on underneath my clothes.

Quickly stripping everything off, I tugged on my bikini for maximum coverage. Now I had to go out in public wearing this, I was feeling even more unsure about myself; but as I said earlier— I only had myself to blame for this. I grabbed my towel and secured it firmly around me, shoving my stuff in a locker and grabbing the key. I hoped Rosalie had some change, because I wasn't hanging around to let her put her stuff in with mine.

I headed through the changing room to the pool, stopping by the mirrors to make sure that I wasn't inadvertently flashing anyone. I peeled my towel off myself and examined my body harshly.

My boobs aren't as big as my sisters, but my hips and ass are bigger then hers, making me look a bit out of proportion. My neck is too long and my upper thighs are too big. I have a little pot-belly, but you can see all my ribs beneath my skin. Sometimes, my body looked like someone had recycled all the leftover bits and pieces, then realized they had just enough to make another person. I mean when you look at all of me, it's obvious. I moved back from the mirror to better examine myself, and...

_Oh wow._

It was like I was seeing _me _in a whole new light. (Speaking of light maybe it was just the strip lighting in here.) But nevertheless, I liked what I saw. I wasn't looking in the mirror and comparing myself to Rose, I was looking in the mirror and saying: 'I look like me. I'm my own person, and I don't look half bad.' Maybe I should try wearing Rose's clothes more often.

I then thought about the type of thing that Rosalie normally wears, and re-edited myself; maybe I should wear things out of my comfort zone more often.

I hurried out of the changing room eager for Edward to see me like this, only to fall slap bang into... _him._

He caught me in his arms, and gently set me back on my feet, but not before I got in a decent feel of his amazing, rock solid chest. _He was perfect. _Not too built up, but not too lanky, Edward clearly spent a bit of time exercising.

"Whoa, slow down there Bella," when he said my name in his amazing accent, I think I had palpitations. "Don't want to run into anything else now, do we?" He smiled at me, and I sighed. Once he was sure I wasn't going to fall over, he released me, and stepped back.

"Holy shit Bella!" He exclaimed.

"What?" I responded, suddenly self conscious.

"Oh, um, nothing. You just...you look amazing in your swimsuit." Edward glanced down at himself then blushed heavily, and called out "race you to the pool." By the time my brain had registered his words, he was in the water. He thought I looked _amazing_, yes, but he just ran away. Boys are so complicated; I think I need a book to understand them: Boys for Dummies.

Quickly following after him, I watched him tread water perfectly at ease.

"Do you swim much?" I asked, putting my feet in the water.

"I love to swim; I've been swimming my whole life. My dad used to take me as well, so it was a way for us to connect."

Something about his words resonated within my head. I pondered whether it was appropriate or not, before deciding to say it anyway.

"Umm, Edward. I don't know if I'm just barking up the wrong tree here or something; but when you talk about your Dad, it's like you're not referring to him in the present tense. You're not talking about Carlisle when you say 'dad' are you?" All of the little things he had said in the past come together in that moment, and I phrased my question as a statement.

"My god, Bella. I don't think I've ever met someone quite like you before. You're so observant. No one's ever picked that up before. And in answer to your question, Esme is my mom's sister, and Carlisle is my dad's brother. It's weird isn't it?" He finished with a little, half hearted laugh, but his eyes were heavy.

"So your mum and her sister, married your dad and his brother?"

"Yeah, exactly. I suppose you can't choose who you fall in love with." He shrugged, and dove underwater, appearing by my side.

"But how did you end up living with your aunt and uncle then?"

A shadow came over his face, and he ripped his gaze from mine. "When I was 8, my parents were killed in a car crash. I've lived with Carlisle and Esme since then. When I was 12, I started referring to them as Mom and Dad, not in any disrespect for my real Mother and Father, but just because they deserve that title from me. They're everything to me."

I looked away, perhaps a little embarrassed."Do Esme and Carlisle have any other children? I mean apart from you?"

"No, Esme can't have children. She was married before she met Carlisle to a man who abused her. She was pregnant when he beat her to the brink of death. She was rushed to hospital by a neighbour who found here. Carlisle treated her, but she lost both the baby and the ability to have children all in one go. Carlisle was the person who helped her recover from that, and slowly they fell in love."

Wow, there was so much history in Edward's family. Although it might not be all good, it was still beautiful, even if it was heartbreakingly so. Our family had nothing like that to tell of.

"Edward, that's such a terrible thing to have happen to your family. I really am so sorry. I can't even pretend to understand what they went through."

Edward smiled, a tiny, hopeful smile, "At least it lead them to where they are today. What irks me sometimes though, is the fact that if Carlisle hadn't been training to be a doctor, and if Esme hadn't always been working, they would have met before Esme married that creep and they wouldn't have had to suffer." He finished sourly.

"What do you mean, Edward?" I asked, fully immersing myself in the water.

"My original mother and father were always trying to set Carlisle and Esme up together, but Carlisle was always so busy with his internship, and Esme was training to become an interior designer. They never managed to get them together before Esme met her first husband."

"Oh wow, it's like it was fate that they met the second time around." I muttered, in awe; it was like a twisted fairy tale.

"That's exactly what my mother, Esme, calls it. She says she wouldn't have survived without him, and someone up there knew that and brought the two of them together."

"Oh that's so romantic!"

"Kind of." He compromised.

"So if Carlisle trained to be a doctor, how come he's here, working as my dad's boss?"

"He gave up medicine when I joined his family so he could spend more time with us. He wanted a nine to five job that let him see his family, rather then keeping the odd hours he was at the time."

Carlisle was a truly amazing man. I couldn't imagine either of my parents giving up their profession in order to spend more time with Rose and I.

Edward and I stayed there floating on our backs in the water, a contented silence between us.

"You know, although that jacket is my dad's, he got it from Germany, and I'm pretty sure that he paid as much for it as he did for the flight home."

I looked at him in surprise, "But I thought it was from a junk shop?"

"I only said that because I was fed up of Rosalie's attitude. I do own loads of clothes from charity shops, and just because I was wearing one of the few things that I own that cost a shitload of money, I didn't want her, _or you, _to judge me on that." The intensity in his voice rung out loud and clear for me, and if you'd have asked me in that moment, I would have said 'Rosalie who?'

Well at least until a grating voice broke through our little bubble of serenity.

"Thanks a lot for waiting for me Bella. I hope she hasn't been being too annoying Edward."

_Rosalie._

**No teaser today, but tell me: What's your phobia? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Scar: You guys have literally blown me away with the number of reviews I got for last chapter. I luvv chuu so much. Props go out to the boyfriend, for putting up with me while I ignore him to write!**

**Ihatejacob1: I should be doing homework for class...but this is much more interesting.**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Many of us have phobias of spiders and heights, but only of us has a phobias of cumulus clouds. I wonder why?**

I woke up to a cacophony of noise ringing in my ears, and it took me a few minutes to realize that no, cats were not fighting outside my bedroom window, Rosalie was singing in the shower.

No one ever liked to tell Rosalie what to do, and telling Rosalie that she was bad at something? Well that was hopeless. Therefore Rosalie seemed to believe that she was eternally better that everyone else at everything. And yet she was always so surprised when I beat her in tests and the like. Hell, she was shocked when she didn't get all A*'s at GCSE, even though she'd not spent any time whatsoever revising. It made me scream sometimes, how Rose was allowed to get away with this shit because she was popular, beautiful and had one bitch of a temper.

I had a relaxing day of nothing to do, as usual. I was betting Rosalie was going out somewhere, as usual, and I'd probably sit at home, watching crappy TV all day. Maybe I could give Alice a call, alleviate some of the boredom. In fact, inviting Jasper around as well would be interesting.

Eh, not worth it, Alice will bring down on me if I do.

The thing I hated about my best friend Alice and my cousin Jasper was that they were both in love with the other, both had been told (several times, by me) that the other would very much appreciate being asked on a date, but neither would do anything about it. They were both too afraid to put themselves out on a limb, and they were both suffering for it. I'd considered time after time, either setting them up on a blind date, or locking them somewhere until they get so desperate they admit their feelings to the other, rather than incessantly whining about it to me.

Jasper was a year older then us, and had a car. He was all too happy to drive us places, mainly because that meant he both got to spend more time with Alice and also, because when he was in my good books, I tend to let little titbits slip about her. Last time he pissed me off, I refused to tell him about her for months. I think by the end of it, he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

The thing was Alice wouldn't ask him out because she believed that the man should _always _ask out the woman. It didn't help that she had been obsessed with him for years, and developed some sort of stalkers' adoration, where she built him up on a podium inside her head. Jasper was a bit of an actor, and made a living starring in small-time movies. The most recent movie he had auditioned for needed someone with an American, Southern accent. Jasper was a method actor, and had talked like that constantly. I couldn't stand it, it irritated the shit out of me, but I swear Alice almost creamed herself whenever he said 'how you doing, darlin'? with an impeccable Texas drawl.

Thankfully the movie was all wrapped up now, and he had returned to his thick 'Jasper' voice. To tell you the truth, the only problem I had with that damn accent was because he didn't sound like, well _him. _It creeped me out completely.

Alice had a (sort of) reason for not wanting to ask him out, however Jasper, well he had nothing to go on. He made excuses about him being 'too old' for Alice, even though in reality, there was less than four months between them; he said that he didn't want to ruin their friendship, when in reality whenever they were around each other they got all shy and quiet. The complete opposite of what they were both normally like. However the absolute outrage for me, was the time Jasper denied even liking Alice. I gave him a nipple-cripple and he never tried that one on me again.

I heard the screeching cut off, and the shower turn off, before Rosalie flounced into my room. She flicked the light switch on, almost blinding me, and then joined me on my bed, sitting on my feet.

"I'm going out." She said with a devious smirk.

"Cool." I murmured, flipping through my book.

I saw her purse her lips in annoying in my peripheral vision. "Don't you want to know who I'm going out with?"

"Not particularly." I answered nonchalantly, wanting nothing more than for her to leave.

"I knew you'd want to know. Edward and I are going out."

I almost choked on my own spit. "You're going out with Edward?" I gasped, regretting letting Rosalie see that I cared so much.

I was shocked. I had thought that at the swimming pool yesterday, before Rosalie interrupted us, we had had a moment. Apparently not. Boys were all the same. They change their minds as soon as someone putting out came along. Rose was definitely putting out, unlike me. The way it was looking, I was going to be a perpetual virgin. Either that or I just wouldn't be able to date until I got married.

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that I might be back late tonight, and not to wait up, if you know what I mean." Rosalie winked at me, and then flounced out the room the same way she came in, leaving my door wide open and the light on, shining blindly in my face.

Rosalie was such a cruel sister sometimes; I wished that once—just _once_ that she would be half the sister to me that I was to her. I _never _waited up for her, and she occasionally stayed out all night. Mum and Dad didn't mind, and neither did I. She just came in here to rub it in my face that she was going out on a date with Edward.

Sometimes, I hated my fraternal twin sister. Born four and a half minutes earlier then me, and although it sounds corny, she never let me forget it. Right from the start, she had been the dominant sister. The boss, the leader, everyone's world had to revolve around her.

And it didn't help that she was devastatingly, heartbreakingly beautiful. Hell, if a woman's self-esteem took a hit every time she walked in the room, imagine growing up surrounded by that. Old ladies in the street stopping to coo over Rosalie, and barely even noticing me. People thinking that I was Rosalie's friend, not her sister, even though I looked a hundred times more like Renee then she did. I think the worst thing that ever happened to me as a consequence of me having Rose for a sister was when Laurent came along...

_The thirteen year-old girl had just started Secondary School, but was miserable already. Alice and her were having an argument, and they weren't speaking at the moment. Normally this wouldn't have been the end of the world for her, because she had had other friends at Primary School that she could have hung around with, but here at this new school, there was no one. Alice and her were supposed to have been a team, but Bella just felt betrayed by her friend. She had abandoned her, and to really stab her in the back was eating lunch with Rosalie every day._

_Alice hated Rosalie with a passion._

_The dark skinned boy noticed the brunette in the corner. She was the subject of a lot of gossip in the boy's locker room. The boys loved to comment on the 'fresh meat' and Rosalie and Bella together made the perfect pair._

_Mirror opposites of each other, almost every boy in their year had fantasized about nailing them both at the same time. Bella, the sexy quiet librarian type—everyone wondered how far down that blush went. Rosalie, the outgoing, blonde bimbo. They all thought she would be a tiger in the sack. However, at thirteen, they would have to wait another year and a half to find out. Rosalie would lose her virginity to Mike Newton, at the tender age of fourteen and a half. Mike however, had always wanted Bella more himself, but decided to settle for the other Swan girl instead._

_After all, she had a fantastic rack._

_But anyway, back to Laurent. He was one of the boys who preferred Rosalie more to Bella, he would always be one for the blondes, but he knew that he wasn't her type at all. Already, she was going for popular future frat-boys, and Laurent: French, tall and slim, never got a look in._

_Although these high school relationships would never last long, pulling Rosalie would gain him credit with the guys, and if he was lucky, maybe he could cop a feel whilst he was down there. Rosalie's tits were fucking awesome._

_Approaching Bella, he quietly sat down at her table. She jumped up in surprise, almost toppling off her seat. Blushing scarlet in embarrassment, she didn't notice many of the boys in her vicinity shift in their seats and groan, as her cheeks took on a scarlet hue._

_Laurent introduced himself, and found they had a lot in common, I mean for a girl. However despite this, he decided to go ahead with his plans anyway._

_-B&E-_

_Rosalie watched her sister from across the room. She was laughing and smiling at something a boy was saying to her. Boys were always paying attention to Rosalie, and she wanted this one to as well. Bella shouldn't get boys fawning all over her, she was already so much better then Rose at everything else. Boys were Rose's 'thing', and she was determined to win this one back._

_Thinking quickly, she concocted a plan. She was going to steal this boy out from right under Bella's nose, and then they'd see how she liked it._

_Rosalie's jealousy knows no bounds. She is jealous still of Bella's happiness, because Rosalie still hasn't found that. She's still bitter about everything Bella has that she doesn't. Even in the present day, this feeling manifests itself, eating at Rosalie._

_However this thirteen year-old Rose is just glad that she is prettier than her sister. Well at least in her opinion. If she'd known some of the thoughts that the boys surrounding her had entertained, she might not have said that so willingly._

_Rose settled back into her chair, basking in the compliments that she received, not caring whether they were said out of jealously, spite, or simply a need to suck up to the most popular girl in the year. Rosalie was already asserting her place as Queen Bee._

_Meanwhile, Laurent is making Bella laugh so hard, she almost snorts milk out her nose. He's been hanging around with her all week now, and desperately wants to stay friends with her, despite the fact that the only reason he introduced himself to her in the first place, was to get to Rosalie._

_He's already realized that Bella isn't like most girls, and whilst most people in his situation would have turned their attention to the comely girl sitting in front of them, who wears their heart on their sleeve, he had one goal in mine, and would not relinquish that for anything, or anyone._

"_Laurent. How are you doing in English? It must be hard for you, learning in your second language."_

_Laurent had taken some liberties with his French background. Although he spoke French fluently enough to get by, he was by no means fluent. English was his first language, but over time, France would become his first, and only, love._

_Seizing the opportunity, he appealed to the side of Bella that was kind, and gentle, and always willing to help out a friend in need. "I'm not actually doing too well in English at the moment; I'm really struggling with these essays. Apparently I need to use a more expensive vocabulary, but using a French to English translator takes so long!"_

_Bella, who was feeling so sorry for her friend, as she thought about how hard she found the English essays without having to write in a completely different language, jumped at the opportunity to help._

"_Come around to my house this Friday. My mum won't mind, Rose always has friends around, and I never do. She can't complain this once. I'll help you with the essays!"_

_However Laurent stopped listening at the mention of 'Rose,' "Will she be there?" he asked in excitement._

_Bella however, didn't understand the question. "Will who be there? My mum? Probably not all the time, but she'll be back in time to make us tea."_

_-B&E-_

_Rosalie wandered into Bella's room just at the right time, well at least for what she had planned. Bella and Laurent were just finishing up their essays._

"_Laurent, I don't know what you were talking about, your vocabulary is flawless. Hell I'd never even heard of the word prevaricate! You could be so good at English if you actually read the books, you know, I think that could somehow be your problem."_

_Laurent had managed to get Bella to write his entire essay for him, but had slipped up when editing it to 'make it sound more like him,' by changing a phrase of Bella's to 'prevaricate,' a word his father liked to use often in his tirades. He tried to make excuses, but Bella was too busy googling the word to see what it meant. She seemed fascinated to add another word to her already extensive vocabulary._

_Rosalie, seeing the completely innocent tone of Bella and Laurent's interactions was pleased. She thought that if Bella and Laurent were dating, she'd have no chance of splitting them up; but if they were just friends... that was a whole other ballpark._

"_So, you must be Laurent. I've heard so much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you," Rosalie said, turning on the flirtatiousness she naturally possessed._

"_Ah, the beautiful Rosalie, you look stunning today." Standing up to kiss her hand, he murmured, before bringing her hand to his lips 'mon amore.'_

_Neither of the girls were aware of what the words meant, however Rosalie found them to be amazing. His quiet demeanour and polite introduction made her rethink her plan, making her consider whether or not she wanted to keep Laurent around, but as _her _boyfriend, not her twin's._

"_Are you two busy, should I come back later?"_

"_Yes"_

"_No"_

_Both Laurent and Bella answered at the same time, however Laurent chose to ignore Bella's vehement no, as did Rosalie._

"_Ladies, shall we play a game?"_

"_But Laurent, you haven't finished this essay? You were doing so well and everything."_

"_Bella," he snapped, "I'll finish it later. Ok?"_

_Losing his cool for a second, Laurent snapped into the charming European persona that he had created. He wanted to seem deep and mysterious to Rosalie, but had almost let Bella ruin his act. He wouldn't let her mess this up, it was the closest he had ever come to the infamous Rosalie._

"_What kind of game?" Rosalie batted her eyelashes at Laurent, trying to look seductive, however she only looked stupid as her top and bottom lashes became tangled together due to the heavy mascara she had recently reapplied._

"_I think that we should play truth or dare!"_

_Laurent had been planning this for so long (a week) and could almost taste the fruits of his labour on his tongue (Rosalie's lips)._

"_I think that's a great idea!"_

"_I think that's an awful idea!"_

_Both Laurent and Rosalie turned to look at Bella, who had again, spoken at the same time to Rose. "Why Bella, are you too chicken?"_

"_No, I just, I just. I'm just not a fan of daring people into doing stupid and dangerous things. I was imagining a game of, I don't know, Monopoly or something."_

_The other two teenagers laughed, before turning to each other. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing at Rose._

_What, do I not count as a lady? Bella isn't happy with the turn of events, and regrets asking Laurent over. She wishes Alice were here, she'd know what to do. But Alice and her aren't speaking, and by this point, Bella is struggling to even remember why they fell out in the first place._

_If she thought about it, Bella would remember that she had teased Alice relentlessly about her infatuation with Jasper. Growing up with Rose, it would take a little time for Bella to develop and hone her social skills. When she had made friends with Alice, Bella had taken the opportunity to be very over-enthusiastic and to come out of her shell much more. This had manifested in her teasing Alice. Although it was said in a friendly way, Alice was still sensitive about him, and snapped._

_Bella had responded equally harshly, and now the two weren't talking._

_Rosalie had thought about her dare, and had come up with an evil one for Bella, but she quickly decided that she would deal that out next turn. This time she would be kinder, and choose Laurent instead._

"_Laurent, you have to take off your shirt, and put on one of Bella's bras."_

_At this, Bella blushed furiously. She knew that Rosalie was doing this on purpose, as her bras were much nicer then Bella's plain white training cups. Rosalie jumped to her feet and started rummaging around in Bella's cupboard._

"_Here you go," she said, throwing Bella's oldest and rattiest bra at Laurent. He picked it up, and looked at Bella, letting his eyes slide down her chest to rest on her breasts. Belle crossed her arms, hiding herself from his gaze, and feeling completely over-exposed._

_Laurent, with a little help from Rosalie, put the bra on, and sat down, pretending to be completely at ease with this, when actually he was having to hold himself down from excitement. He didn't care about having to wear a girl's bra, he was more concerned with flexing his chest muscles to impress Rosalie._

_She wasn't impressed at all. She preferred, as we had already established, much more built up boys. However, she was willing to overlook this, for now at least..._

"_Rosalie, truth or dare?"_

_Rosalie, having skipped this part last time, opting instead to simply issue Laurent with a dare, blanched a little, before deciding on truth._

"_Have you ever touched a boy, _there, _before?"_

_Rosalie blushed almost as much as Bella, and giggled violently. Bella had a bit of an idea what Laurent was going on about, but couldn't believe he asked that. She chose instead to decide that she had gotten confused, and he didn't say anything alluding to such a private part of a boy's anatomy at all._

_Bella was so deep in thought that she missed Rose's 'sexy' pout and quick nod. Laurent was surprised, he hadn't expected that of Rosalie, however he didn't mind. Her experience just made her sexier to him. This way, she wouldn't need him to tell her what to do, so he could just sit back and enjoy the ride._

_It was Rosalie's go this time, and she was pulling out all the stops._

"_Bella, truth or dare?"_

_Not wanting to be asked the same question as Rose just was, and not understand what was really going on, Bella went for dare. She would regret it later though._

"_Bella, I dare you to go up into the attic and stay there for ten minutes."_

_Bella was deathly afraid of two things: spiders and bats. Well three if you counted her fear of water, but she was almost completely over that now. The attic had two things in abundance- spiders and (Bella imagined) bats._

"_Mum will never let us go up into the attic, we're not allowed to play there," Bella quoted triumphantly._

"_Mum isn't here though, so get up there."_

_Bella, remembering what usually happened when you argued with Rosalie, agreed somewhat reluctantly. Rose found the key to the stairs leading up to the attic, but they were steep and narrow. Bella hated them, and the door was kept locked mainly so that she didn't worry about it. Rose unlocked the door and ushered Bella through, waiting till she had gone up the stairs completely, and was concealed within the shadows of the attic._

_Laurent seized the opportunity as soon as he could, and trapped Rose between his chest and the wall._

"_So baby, now that Bella's out the way, wanna make out?"_

"_Hell yes!"_

_Rose and Laurent's' foreheads met before their lips, and they clumsily repositioned themselves to kiss properly this time. Laurent simultaneously jammed his tongue down Rose's throat and stuck his hand up her shirt to roughly squeeze her boob. Rosalie didn't even try to pretend to be into it, instead getting off on the fact that it was her he was doing this to her, not Bella. She was one-upping her sister yet again. Or at least that was the way she saw it._

_The way Bella saw it, from her position hiding in her room, after she had snuck down the stairs and out of the attic, was a sloppy and messy kiss, added to the disgrace of Rosalie allowing a boy she had only just met to feel her up. She was strangely entranced by the union, and found herself unwilling to look away. She was morbidly fascinated by the way Laurent pressed his hips into Rosalie's._

"_Laurent, Bella's been up there for more than 10 minutes."_

"_Oh just leave her, she won't have any light to check her watch anyway."_

"_No, I have a better idea." An evil gleam came into Rose's eyes, and she pressed the key into the palm of Laurent's hand. He took it from her, and silently asked her if she was sure. She nodded, and stealthily (albeit pointlessly), crept towards the attic door, slammed it shut, and locked it once more. Bella could only imagine the abject terror she would be succumbing to, if she hadn't snuck down here, whilst the two of them were otherwise occupied._

_What hurt most though, was the way Laurent had used her to get to Rosalie. It just set in stone what she (with the same dramatic flair as most teenagers) believed in her heart she had always known— she would always be playing second fiddle to Rosalie. She swore then and there that she would not let herself forget this._

-B&E-

I hopped out of bed, intent on giving Alice a call, she would be happy to comfort me; if she didn't want to talk about Jasper that is. The older we get, the more Alice seems to fall in love with him. After a quick phone call, I climbed back into bed, Alice could let herself in with the spare key, God knows she's seen me use it enough times to know where it is. Either that, or Charlie could move his fat ass from in front of the TV and get the damn door.

It was just one of those days.

-B&E-

Four hours later I was faced with an Alice who had _still _not exhausted the topic of 'Jasper.' All I had heard was Jasper does this, and Jasper is so this, and I just want to do this to Jasper.

He was my cousin. I didn't need images of him like that in my head, especially not with my best friend. No way. I stopped Alice there. Anyway, I needed her help with some guy problems of my own!

"Alice, I think I'm falling for this guy." I interrupted the Jasper Parade.

"—And Jasper is just so handsome, don't you think. Wait a minute, _what_?" She stopped and turned subjects much similar to a train going at top speed then slamming on the breaks.

"No, I'm kidding about falling for him." _Sort of. _"I just needed to attract your attention away from Jasper for a second. I do know him, he's my cousin. I grew up with him." I exhaled, not exactly ready to delve into the taboo subject that surrounded my desire for me and Edward to be in a dark room together.

"Yeah yeah, whatever Swan. So who's this guy then? Who's the poor sod?" Alice demanded, not about to swayed when I had finally shown some interest in the opposite sex.

"'The Poor Sod' is on a date with Rosalie as we speak." I sighed, unhappily.

Alice let out a bitter laugh, "Poor Sod indeed. Why in Hell's name are you hanging around with one of Rosalie's drones?"

I bit my lip, letting real emotion leak into my voice. "I thought he was different. We had some sort of connection— I could _feel it_, Alice. We had a _moment._"

Her eyes went deadpan. "Bella. Don't ever say that again. _You _tell _me _off for saying shit like that about Jasper and I. You are not allowed to start now. This guy doesn't sound good for you anyway, if a girl had had a moment with me, I would _not _be going on a date with her twin sister the next day!" She finished, with disturbing reason and logic in her argument.

I couldn't let it go. "I know, Alice! Why else do you think I phoned you?"

"Oh and what, you've sat here, suffering in silence this _whole _time?"

One look at my pitiful face, and she realized what was going on. "Oh honey, it'll all work out. If you're meant to be, you _will_ be. Evil twin sisters nonetheless."

"Alice, I say the same thing about you and Jazz all the time."

Her eyes softened. "That's different, Bella."

"Yeah, he's not on a date with your _sister_."

I burst into proper tears this time. Alice really wasn't helping. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed and eaten ice cream all day, whilst wallowing in my own misery. That would have been better than this little pow-wow with Alice any day.

The door slammed open, and I hurriedly dried my tears. No one needed to see me sitting on the couch with Alice, a complete mess. Especially Rose, she'd realize immediately that she'd gotten to me, and it would only give her more ammunition, make her more likely to rub her new relationship in my face in the future.

Rose sauntered into the living room, joining us on the couch, to Alice's displeasure. As a sister, I felt obliged to ask, "How did your date go?"

If there was any longing in my voice, Rosalie didn't notice it.

"Edward took me bowling, which he's amazing at by the way. I was average, but he said I did very well for a beginner. I managed to knock like 6 of the pins down at once one time, and although his mum had given us a lift there, we got the bus back so that we could stop on the way for ice cream, but I'm on a no dairy diet so that I can lose weight at the moment, so I just had a milkshake."

"Rosalie," Alice's frosty tone sounded in the air, "You do realize there's dairy in a milkshake."

Her eyes widened. "Really, no way?"

"Milkshakes contain milk, which is dairy."

Rosalie snapped back, panic in her bright blue eyes. "You're shitting me, that's a lie."

"Nope, hence the name _milk_shakes." Alice replied, turning to me and rolling her eyes.

"Well fuck my life. Milkshakes are like totally one of my food groups."

"Rose, what else happened on your date with Edward?" I was desperate to know whether they kissed or not. Alice rolled her eyes at my questioning.

"Erm... I dunno. Nothing really." Rosalie's cheeks were tinged pink, and it took a lot to make Rose blush, so I knew that something particularly interesting had happened that she was withholding from me. I mouthed to Alice, 'she's lying,' and between us, we tag teamed Rosalie into a confession.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you, but it really isn't _any _of your business."

"Rose!" we both exclaimed together.

"Fine, whatever. You have to swear not to tell a soul though. Okay?"

We both agreed, even though that's exactly what she wanted us to do.

"Basically, we were on the bus on the way back to our house, after our ice cream and my milkshakes, which I can't have any more." Rose sighed a little, as if contemplating her loss. "And he was facing me, listening to what I was talking about, well he was smiling and nodding at me anyway. He seemed a bit, out of it, you know?"

We both gestured for her to continue. Alice with a little more reluctance and boredom then I. I just wanted the story to be over, so I knew if it was a good or bad outcome.

"And I leaned over and just kissed him. Right on the lips. But he didn't respond!" The amount of shock in Rosalie's voice is unparalleled by anything I've ever heard come out of those lips before. She is honestly completely dumbstruck by the idea that Edward doesn't want her.

"And he pulled back a little, so I followed him, and he kinda pushed me away a bit. I had _no _idea _what _he was doing, so I straddled his lap."

Rosalie has the decency to sound a little ashamed of this move. Alice is merely incredulous.

"You _straddled his lap, _on a _bus?_ What the _hell _were you _thinking_?" Alice exclaimed.

"Shut the fuck up short stuff. At least I have the guts to kiss the guy I like!"

Oh, did I mention that Alice stands in at 5ft 1, whilst Rose comes in at 5ft 9? So when they both jumped to their feet and squared each other off, the site was almost comical.

"Calm down guys! Rose, can you please get on with the story?" I asked, a little too interested.

"Okay, so I was on his lap, and I started kissing him again and I tried to like, pry open his lips, but he had them pressed tighter together then a straight guy's butt cheeks." Alice giggle-snorted at her words. I actually think that might be Rose's idea of a joke. I rolled my eyes again, and gestured for her to continue. "Well after a few seconds of the most awful kiss of my life, he kind of pushed me back by my shoulders, and dumped me gracelessly in my seat." It was my turn to laugh at Rose's last comment, she had practically molested the guy. Maybe, just maybe, he was waiting for me. Maybe it was my turn to be the heroine of the story and get the guy. Maybe, _Edward liked me._

"And he says to me, you know what he says?" Here Rose's smile becomes triumphant, and the crease between her eyebrows evens out. "He says, 'Rosalie, you're an extremely beautiful woman, and I can see why so many guys fall at your feet to worship you, but I'm afraid, you're, well you're... _not exactly my type.' _And he waits, and I don't get it, and then he kinda looks at me, and it all clicks. And he's like 'so, umm... yeah.' and we both laugh really awkwardly. "

Alice gasps, and joins Rose in laughter. "And to think," she manages to splutter out, "To think, you thought you had a _connection_, a _moment _with this guy!" She says, gesturing at me. It's clear from her face that she's talking about the conversation we had earlier. She starts laughing again.

"What? I don't get it? What are you talking about?" By this point, I'm beyond confused.

"Bella, don't you get it?" Rosalie looks at me, giving me the same look I've been giving her for years. She looks at me like _I'm _the dumb one.

Rosalie and Alice both turn towards me, and for the first and last time ever, they actually agree on something.

"Bella, Edward's gay," they say in perfect union.

_Well fuck my life._


	5. Chapter 5

**Scar: I'm off holiday now, so updates will be a little less frequent I'm afraid :'(**

**Ihatejacob1: Well she would have something awesome to say if her computer wasn't spazzing out on her ;)**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**I'd just like to confirm something that I think a few of us got confused about last chapter. Auroraboralis' review says it all: "_Gurl, only Rosalie would think that a guy's rejection was because of his love for the same gender! Totally laughing here!"_**

I woke up miserable, and it took me a few seconds to realize why. Oh yeah, the guy that I'm totally crushing on is gay. Lucky me. On top of that, he went out on a date with my sister yesterday. Another point against my favour. Wait a minute, Rosalie said he went out on a date with her, and then she said that he was gay? That doesn't make _any _sense at all!

I checked the time on the clock, noticing it read 8am. I _never _woke up this early normally in the holidays. I must have had a bit of a restless night.

I jumped out of bed, and hurried across the hall to Rose's room. She was still asleep in bed, with one of those eye thingies across her face. It was pink and sparkly with '_Princess,' _spelled out in diamantés.

Calling her name and receiving no answer, I poked her. She didn't wake up. I'd forgotten how much of a heavy sleeper she was, and resorted to a new method, or rather a very old one. Depending on which way you looked at it that is.

-B&E-

"_Bella, go wake your sister please. I can't believe she's not awake already, it's my birthday. Thank you for breakfast in bed by the way, it was... lovely of you to wake up and do it for me," Renee muttered the last line quietly._

_Renee had completely skipped over the fact that her daughter had also done the washing, emptied and re-stacked the dishwasher, cleaned everything that either wouldn't fit in there, or wasn't allowed to go in there, cleaned the bathroom because Rosalie had left it a mess and made the entire family their normal breakfast._

_Rosalie hadn't even woken up yet, whilst Bella had been up for hours._

_Bella scrambled upstairs to her sister's room, and knocked softly. There was no reply._

_Entering cautiously, Bella was faced with her sister, one hand grasping her teddy bear, the other tucked in her mouth. Her thumb-sucking habits would end in Rosalie needing braces in order to correct her buck-teeth, however she would beg her parents so much, they would end up paying hundreds for 'Invisaline,' a kind of plastic see-through brace that would straighten Rose's teeth without anyone being the wiser. Bella considered herself lucky to be born with perfectly straight teeth, because her parents definitely wouldn't fork out the extra cash for her._

_Rosalie was fast asleep, her silky blonde hair a ratty mess and the eye-makeup that she hadn't bothered to remove the night before smeared all over her face._

_Bella sighed, she didn't approve of make up, and even now, wears as little as she can get away with. Rosalie seems to wear a whole other skin comprised of concealer and foundation and blusher, but the way Bella saw it, it just wasn't necessary- with Rose as a sister, who was she trying to impress?_

_Bella crept over to Rose, and gently shook her shoulder. _

"_Rose, you gotta wake up, it's mum's birthday."_

_Rosalie didn't stir. Shaking her a little harder, she tried again. "Rose, you gotta get up. Erm... Gareth Gates is outside."_

_This caused Rosalie to roll over in her sleep, but not much else. Coming to the conclusion that drastic measures would be required in order to rouse her, she shook her firmly, grasping her shoulder tightly in her right hand._

_Rose's hand lashed out, catching Bella on the jaw, and succeeding at dislodging Bella's grip on her shoulder. Bella recoiled in pain._

"_Rose, get _up!"

"_Oh fuck off Bella!" Came the muffled reply. Rosalie simply pulled the bedcovers over her head and went back to sleep._

_Bella went down the stairs to report back to Renee, but found her in the middle of an argument with Charlie._

"_It is my birthday Charles, and if I want to take the kids out then I will!"_

"_Fine, take the kids out, leave me at home, but do not go to a place that we cannot afford, simply because you want to look good in front of your stupid country club. We are saving, we've just spent a shitload of money on the new car for you to impress them with!"_

_Bella was shocked, not at the fact that her parents were arguing, that was pretty common in their household, but she'd never heard her father swear before. It was quite an odd sensation for her, to hear words like that come out of her father's mouth._

"_Bella, what are you doing there? And where's your sister?" Renee's dulcet tones snapped._

"_Rose is refusing to get out of bed mum."_

"_What? Tell her she'll be in deep trouble if she's not down here soon."_

_That translated as, 'you'll be told off in the stead of your sister because she'll get all bitchy and shitty if we try and reprimand her.' Bella, completely aware of this fact, decided to resort to an age old trick._

_Going upstairs, she snuck into Rose's room very quietly, making sure not to wake her up. She needed the element of surprise for this._

_She crept over, until she was right next to Rose's hair, and she gently parted it around her ear. Licking her finger, and making sure to slobber on it a disgusting amount, she very slowly leaned over, and jammed her finger into Rose's ear canal. _

_Rosalie awoke, screeching, as Bella high-tailed it out of the room. She knew that she wouldn't get into trouble with her parents because they were too occupied at the moment, and they also had told her to get Rose up after all. _

_Bella sighed, wet willies were the best things ever!_

_-B&E-_

I laughed at the memories, thinking back to a time when things had been a lot simpler. Before I'd been aware of all the shit that my parents marriage was up in, and before I had to worry about Rosalie so often.

I didn't let on much, but in reality, I really worried about Rose, almost all the time. She was so vulnerable, looking the way she does. I mean she puts herself out there and then expects not to be burned. I mean, I know that she's a grown-up and everything, but she's still my twin sister, and I do everything I can to look after her. If something happened to her, I'd feel partly responsible, merely because I'm her twin, and we're supposed to look out for each other.

I know what you're going to say- what's she ever _ever _done for me, and the answer is... nothing. But if she had grown up in my place, and I in hers, who knows what our lives would have been like. What if I had been the perfect little blonde angel, and she the mousy shy little girl? I would hope that she'd be to me, what I am to her now.

But if I think about it too much, it just makes me sad. After all what are the chances of Rose thinking about someone other then herself for once? Not likely.

Repeating the actions of so many years ago, I brushed her hair away from her ear, licked my finger and stuck it into her ear. Rosalie, mirroring her past self, jumped up and screamed, before yelling 'I'm blind.' She then discovered the sleep mask that she wore every night was in fact still covering her eyes. She pulled it off and then proceeded to collapse down on the bed.

"Thank fucking god, I thought I was blind then."

Rosalie is not, and will probably never be, an intellectual.

It's just a damn good thing that she still has her good looks to tide her through!

"Anyway, Rose, I realized something earlier. I mean I'm not sure Edward is gay you know."

"Oh and why the hell did you give me a wet willy? That's so disgusting you know!"

"Rose, are you listening to me?"

"I mean come on, have we gone back to being like, 5 year-olds again?"

"ROSE!"

"Okay, okay. What?"

"You said Edward and you went on a date, but if Edward's gay, why would he have asked you out?"

Rosalie's face blushed scarlet, and I could see her shifting underneath her covers.

"Umm yeah, about that. Edward didn't ask me out."

"What? You asked him out?"

Whilst I was still annoyed and disheartened that they had gone on a date, Rosalie overcoming her sexist tendencies was still a cause for celebration.

"Well, something like that."

"Something like that? What do you mean?"

I could see it written on Rose's face when she reached breaking point. She had a certain amount of space to veer from and enhance the truth, before the exaggerations got too much for her to remember and she began to make mistakes. Over the years, she had learned her limits, leading to her being able to lie with a high percentage of accuracy, but I could tell that I had pushed her to her own personal limit.

She, literally, burst.

"OKAY! WE DIDN'T GO OUT ON A DATE. I INVITED HIM OUT AS FRIENDS. _JUST FRIENDS, _DAMNIT. I SAID THAT WE WERE ON A DATE TO MAKE YOU FEEL BAD. He wouldn't go out with me!"

I sighed, Alice and Rose were clearly right. Edward _was _gay. I mean, a guy would have to be gay to turn down a date with my sister.

"It's ok Rose. Don't worry about it."

She was clearly very upset that he had rejected her, and was struggling to overcome that.

"How could he not like me? I mean I'm perfect. I'm beautiful, I have a great figure, I put out, I'm everything a guy could want!"

"I know Rose, I know."

"I mean a gay guy, now that I could understand. He'd have to be gay to reject me, I mean, what's there not to like?"

I forced myself not to comment on Rose's disillusions, if she chose to have a warped perspective on life and the way she appeared to everyone else, that would be her choice. Rose didn't really have any girlfriends, well at least not the way that I did. She has no one that would look out for her. The people she calls her friends are as likely to stab her in the back as anything else. Hell, they remind me of that movie, Mean Girls.

"It's ok Rose. Everyone wants you."

Rose seemed to really reach hysterical with this sentence: "And he just kept asking about you! I mean, _you? _What would he see in _you_ that he wouldn't see in _me_? It's ridiculous!" Then a beautific smile glided across her face. "But then I understood, he's gay, you're not fashion-conscious. He probably wanted to give you a make-over or something."

This, I knew was ridiculous. Edward was about as un-camp as you could get! There was no way he was interested in giving me a make-over. Rose was really delusional sometimes.

I decided that my best bet would be to go along with what she was saying. Knowing full-well that Edward would _not _be interested in giving me a make-over, I decided to pull out the 'squealing girl' card.

"Oh my god! Do you really think that he'd be interested in giving me a make-over? That would be like totally amazing! I mean, I'd completely love that and everything. Umm yeah! Yay!"

"You _want _him to give you a make-over."

"Yeah, why not? Umm... I mean, _of course!_"

"Oh my god! That's so cool, you could be so much prettier if you just changed the things you wear and did something with your hair and like, put some make up on and stuff!"

"Yeah, I could totally be pretty if I changed everything about me! I mean, duh!"

"I'll have to give you his number."

Rose, snatching her phone off the bedside table, grabbed a pen, and painstakingly copied out his number on to my hand. It didn't occur to her that there was paper next the the bed or anything.

I had decided to go with the 'I agree with everything you say' route with Rose, because otherwise I had a feeling she might not agree, just to spite me. She could very easily have refused to give me his number simply because he had given it to _her, _not me.

Rose was like that.

Another thing that sometimes upset me was that anyone at school could have easily told you, having witnessing me behaving like that, that that clearly was not normal behaviour for me; and yet, Rosalie, my twin sister, was too conceited to see through the little bubble surrounding her to realize that not everyone behaved like a carbon copy of her.

Shaking my head, I shoved these thoughts to the back of my mind, and concentrated on a happier prospect- _I have Edward's number!_

My annoying brain reminded me once again: _Edward's gay and not at all interested in you._

_Sigh._

Keeping up the act, I responded to Rose with a 'Gee, Rose, thanks ever so much," and then high-tailed it out of the room.

Trekking across the landing and back to my room, I contemplated the digits now written on my hand. I picked up my mobile (a much older and crappier version then Rose's) and typed the number into it.

Lying on my bed, and staring up at the blank ceiling, I tried to decide what to do. Should I phone Edward? Should I invite him over? Would it be awkward now that I know his secret and he doesn't know that I know?

God, this is getting too complicated for me.

I pressed the little green button before I had a chance to reconsider.

_Ring, ring, ring, ring._

A muffled "hello" sounded across the phone

_Shit. I forgot. It's only 8.30!_

"Umm hi Edward, I'm really sorry for phoning so early! I completely forgot that it would probably be more appropriate to wait until a decent time. Oh god, I'm so sorry, I'll phone back later."

"No, Bella, wa..."

But it was too late, I had already cut him off, and hung up.

_Nice one Bella, that went well!_

My phone went off in my hand. Sighing, I glanced at the screen, it was Edward (duh!).

"Hello Edward."

"Did you just hang up on me?"

"In my defence I was trying to let you get back to sleep," I muttered.

"Bella, I promise you, you have my full attention. What's up."

"Aren't you curious as to how I have your number?" I inquired.

Edward, speaking very slowly, as if to an idiot, said "Bella, I gave my number to your sister. It can't have been very hard to walk across the hall and ask her for it!"

Laughing at how much trouble I'd gone to for his number, I said "Edward, you have no idea."

Instead of laughing, like I expected, I could practically hear Edward shudder over the phone; "Bella, with a sister like yours, I'm 100 percent sure that I have no idea whatsoever."

I was tempted to see what Edward would say if I asked him how his date was yesterday with Rose, but surely that would be much too mean. Or would it? Ehh, I've done loads for Rose, I can drop her in it just this once!

"So Edward, how was your date yesterday."

Edward, who had either been drinking something as he was talking to me, or had an excessive amount of spit in his mouth spluttered in apparent shock. I was hoping that he had been drinking something, because that amount of spit is just nasty.

"What? My _date_?"

As I had thought, Edward had just backed up Rose's words from earlier, although his extremely strong reaction was yet another indication that Edward was gay. Any other boy would have simply laughed that off, or have been pleased for someone to assume that he was dating the most popular girl in school. Edward on the hand, _never _had that kind of reaction.

"Yeah, I thought you had a date with Rose."

Under any other circumstance, I think my voice would have been breaking if I'd had to ask Edward this question. However, now I was barely keeping the laughter out of my voice.

"Did _Rosalie _tell you that?"

"Edward, if you were on a date with Rosalie, it's fine. I don't mind. _You can date whoever you want."_

I slipped in the last sentence as a kind of subconscious gesture for Edward, hoping that he'd remember this in the future. I heard Edward murmur something under his breath. It sounded like _"No I can't." _But I couldn't be sure.

Thinking about it, Edward saying 'No I can't' would make sense. He clearly felt that due to his sexual preference, he was isolated from society! Oh poor Edward! I mean, I wasn't a lesbian, I was sure of that about myself, but I could sympathise with him. Hell, I felt like that most days with my family.

Choosing to move on rather then call him out on it, I asked him what he was up to today.

After he responded with nothing much, I invited him over. I said I'd take him out somewhere cool, but where to take him. He said he'd be over in an hour, we exchanged goodbyes and hung up. After thinking for a few seconds, I struck upon a brilliant idea.

_The meadow would be perfect, and if anything would impress Edward, it would be my meadow._

-B&E-

I heard the doorbell ring exactly an hour later. By this time I had managed to pack everything I thought we would need for our day out. Everything including raincoats, because although the weather was suspiciously nice at the moment, this was Forks, and it could change in a moment.

Edward came into my house faster then I could see, and the way he situated himself there was strange to me. There was something about having this boy in my home, in my kitchen, on my couch that was almost alien to me. It felt, strange, but strangely... _right._

_Bella, get over yourself. Stop having feelings for the gay man and get your mind on to the more appropriate side of your day._

"So Edward, come through to our Living Room for a minute will you, I want to show you something."

Edward followed me through the house and into the Living Room. The carpet in here was white and the room had a sort of gleam to it. Personally, I had much preferred the house we had lived in before we moved here, it had so much more history then this one. It was years old, whereas this was a new-build, and although it had a lot more rooms, and was much bigger, it was completely and utterly devoid of character.

We had moved when Rose and I were old enough to make sharing a room a chore, and Renee had wanted to upgrade anyway. This house had brought my parents nothing but a large mortgage and a leaking roof. Weren't they lucky!

However, perhaps the one amazing thing about this house was the view.

On one side, you looked out on to a road, yeah, but on the other side, you looked down on to a valley, and we were situated at the cusp. On the other edge of the valley was a forest, and that was where I was going to take Edward today.

"Look, you see the wood, about a mile away?"

"Wow," he breathed. "Beautiful."

When I looked up, he was gazing straight at me. Thinking nothing of it, but wanting to take the attention off me a little more, I continued.

"That's where I'm going to take you today, Edward. I know of a little place in there that's just beautiful. I've packed everything we'll need, including rainwear in case the weather takes a turn for the worse, but you'll have to wear Charlie's because he was the closest person here in size to you."

"Bella, I don't mind. I just want to spend the day with you."

_Ok, Bella, breathe. He means that in a friendly way. Stop overreacting. _

Taking a deep breath, I punched his arm and tried to smile, although I suspect it probably more resembled a grimace. Grabbing on to him, and pulling him with me to the front door, I gestured to it, and said "out," very firmly. When Edward's back was turned I grabbed the picnic basket that I had packed. Edward, bowing his head in 'shame' moved through the front floor dejectedly. Obviously he was just acting, and as soon as he was in front of me, I jumped on to his back and clung on like some sort of spider-monkey creature. Or maybe a leech would be a more appropriate term to use.

"Onwards, steed," I proclaimed, kicking the front door shut with my leg, and almost falling off Edward in the process. He wrapped both his arms around my thighs and hoisted me up onto his back. Woah, maybe this wasn't too good an idea, I thought, as my hormones stirred.

Bending down, I whispered in his ear: "Edward."

I would have sworn that I heard him groan softly, but I had a feeling that that was just a product of my _very _overactive imagination.

"Yeah Bella?"

"Giddyup," I whispered, before breaking into giggles. Edward joined me, and the way his laughter filled the air, made me want to stop laughing so I didn't soil the beautiful noise with my own brays.

"The sound of you laughing is beautiful, Bella," Edward informed me.

"Funny that, I was just thinking the same thing," I teased in return.

"Right, you, which way?"

I directed him right along the pavement for a few minutes, and then down a steep track. Edward, weighed down with me on his back, broke into a jog at the incline. I screamed in a mixture of abject fear and pleasure.

"You better hold on Bella!" He said, before full-on sprinting.

We both screamed and laughed together, until panting, we reached the bottom of the slope. Walking along a proper road for that lead along the base of the valley for a few minutes, we were just about to turn off the road to climb up the other side of the valley, when I slipped off Edward's back.

Pouting, Edward asked me "what did you do that for? It was fun having you up there."

"Edward, we're walking uphill. Downhill is fair enough, but uphill? You'd have to have some kind of superhuman strength to do that!"

Laughing, Edward said "you might have a point there, my arms were getting very tired from carrying you around, you big lump!"

Pretending to be offended, I hit Edward with the picnic basket. Unfortunately, I couldn't move fast enough to stop him from grabbing it and making a run for it. Screaming, I gave chase, laughing all the way.

**So, what did you think of this one? Thanks to everyone who left a review for the last chapter, and thanks especially to evaki95, for reviewing every chapter in a row! 3**

**Props to the beta, for being generally awesome, as usual; even though she couldn't manage this chapter ;)s**

**So, continuing with the bribery, review = continuation of this teaser:**

**Tripping over the log that was across the path, I sent myself sprawling on the floor. This was common for me. What wasn't so common though, was the fact that I had brought someone with me- Edward had landed on the ground right on top of me, every inch of him pressed up against me, and the urge to kiss him was almost overpowering. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Scar: Next chapter has arrived, and I think you'll like this one a lot! Sorry that I took so long about it, I had exams and just generally crappy shit going on. But its all better now xD**

**Ihatejacob1: I've been chomping at the bit to get to this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**This starts up where the previous chapter ended. Bella and Edward are going on a picnic :D**

Running after Edward was hard work, despite the fact that he was carrying a picnic basket, and alternating between jogging and striding swiftly. I guess it just shows you how unfit I am, that by the time I reached the entrance to the woods, Edward had already been through the entire picnic basket and was complaining about the choice of foods I had packed.

"I mean come on Bella, no chips? This is supposed to be a picnic— where's the finger foods?"

It took me a few seconds to work out that chips was _crisps _in normal sane English people language, but once I had I rolled my eyes, knowing him well enough by know, to know that he was joking.

"If you wanted finger foods you should have gotten them yourself!" I replied, haughtily.

"How could I when you practically kidnapped me," Edward accused, his voice taking on a wounded, heartbroken quality.

Pretending to stagger backwards, I clutched a hand to my heart and proclaimed, "Oh Edward, you wound me! How could you accuse me of kidnap? The shame, oh the shame!" I turned away, as if I could not make eye contact through my tears, and did my best to pretend to cry, even though I knew my acting in comparison to his, was of a very poor quality. Edward seemed to be good at everything.

Edward, switching effortlessly to being gangster, strode towards me. "And where do you think you're going bitch? Come back here, and I'll give you some of this." In a flamboyant gesture, unlike anything I had come to associate with Edward's nature, he gestured with a flourish to himself. It was probably the gayest move I had ever seen.

Pretending to be outraged at Edward calling me a bitch, I gasped, then reached out to slap him gently. Moving faster than I had ever seen someone move before, Edward's hand flashed out and gently grasped my wrist, as light as a feather. My hand, hovering a few centimetres from his face, was close enough for me to just gently brush my fingertips along his cheekbone. Edward inhaled sharply, and his grip on my wrist tightened.

Edward pulled me closer to him by an inch, just a gentle tug, and suddenly, I found myself pressed almost flush against him. There was a hairs breadth between our bodies and I wanted it gone.

I started to move forward, but stumbling, I sent myself sprawling on the floor. This was common for me. What wasn't so common though, was the fact that I had managed to take someone else down as well— Edward had landed on the ground right on top of me, every inch of him aligned with my body, and the urge to kiss him was almost overpowering.

I could feel the outline of every inch of his body, from the shape of his phone and camera, tucked in his front pocket, to the hard planes of his chest. Wait a minute, phones and cameras couldn't move of their own accord, could they? Because I swear something just twitched down there.

_Oh my god, was that his...?_

But before I had a chance to figure it out, he was off me and apologising. What was he apologising for? I was the one who had taken him out after all.

"Edward, what are you apologising for? I was the one who managed to knock us both over." I scrambled, trying to save what we had just had.

I figured that I must be imagining things, and put what I had thought I felt out of my mind. Edward was gay. _Gay. _I needed to get things straight in my head, otherwise I was going to ruin our friendship by coming on to him. Edward was not interested in me, and liked boys. Dicks not chicks. He was not interested me, and he never would be.

Whilst my inner monologue had been going on, Edward had been repeatedly apologizing. Deciding that shutting him up before he had an aneurysm was probably a good idea, I got up off the floor and brushed off my clothes. Edward was still sitting down, and I offered him a hand to pull himself up. Edward looked at me, looked at my hand, and slowly climbed to our feet. I realized that offering him a hand after knocking him over might not be the cleverest idea in the world.

"Bella, we've already ended up on the ground once today thanks to you, don't temp fate again!"

"Get your ass moving Edward, we've procrastinated enough."

And with that, we were off. All awkwardness pushed under the carpet and trodden on. Edward seemed keen to find out as much about me as possible with a game of truth. Great.

-B&E-

"Cats or dogs?"

"Either."

"Favourite flower?"

"Orchids are pretty," I offered, not knowing much about flowers.

"When's your birthday?"

"September 13th."

"Favourite type of jewellery?"

"Preferably necklaces, nothing big."

"Past dating history?"

I looked at him in surprise, none of his other questions had been as probing as that, and I was surprised at the intimacy.

"None."

"None?" Edward sounded shocked, and stopped in the middle of the trail we were following. "You've never had a boyfriend?"

"No I haven't. What, is that a crime?"

I was a little taken a back at Edward's tone. He seemed so shocked that I'd never dated anyone before, and I was a little worried it was because he had somehow managed to infer from my actions that I was some type of whore.

"No, it's not a crime, I'm just surprised."

Unsurprisingly, that got my back up a little. "Edward, I'm not a whore. I don't sleep around or anything like that. That's not me, and if you think that describes me, then you're hanging around with the wrong type of person. You have realized I'm not Rosalie right?"

His eyes widened. "Bella, I know you're not Rosalie. It's just that, well you're so beautiful, and I can imagine the way boys look at you at school, I can't believe that one of them hadn't snapped you up by now."

"Well thanks, Grandma." I joked, until I saw the seriousness in his emerald eyes. I swallowed hard, about to enter into a region I hadn't expected to explore yet. "I don't know. Boys our age always seem to be immature and reckless. They're just interested in a pair of tits, and anyway, it's Rose who gets all the offers. Boys barely see me because Rosalie is always around. I'm not beautiful, not like her."

Edward, turned me by grabbing my arm. "Bella, you're one hundred times better looking than Rosalie, and if the boys over here can't see it, then that's their loss. I guarantee you in America, you would have so many more admirers than Rosalie. There are a hundred bleached blonde girls, with a fake tan to match their fake boobs; you look, well you look natural, and breakable, and just so delicate; yet underneath all that, you're so strong. You've had to be strong to put up with the treatment from your sister and your mother."

Edward's words were beautiful, and I could truly see that _he _believed what he was saying, even if I didn't. I appreciated the sentiment, but it would probably mean more coming from someone who actually has the ability to be attracted to me.

His eyes were careful and guarded, as if he was just now realizing what he had said.

"Edward, that's a lovely thing for you to say, and I don't want to mar the atmosphere with ungrateful words, but you're wrong. You see me differently for some reason, and as much as I appreciate it, I think that you might be the only one." Getting the words out was hard, I was trying to express myself to Edward, but I didn't want to squash his feelings, and imply that because he was gay, his opinion didn't matter as much to me.

Edward groaned, and crouched down on to his heels. "Bella, you're the one who doesn't see yourself properly. I wouldn't have believed a mother and sister could treat someone like they way they treat you until I saw it for myself. You just aren't seeing your true self."

Edward obviously sensed that I was growing uncomfortable with the conversation topic, and quickly stood up. He stretched out his body from the curled up position he was in, and there was something about the way he grew until he hovered above me that made me tingle in unfamiliar places. He really was beautiful. Some day, he was going to make some lucky guy so happy. For half a second, I wished I had a penis.

Saying that, even to myself, made me laugh for some reason, I couldn't quite put my finger on it though.

"Come on, B, let's get moving. Lead the way."

"Ok, Edward, this way." I gestured along a turn off from the public footpath, something I had uncovered years ago, when fleeing from home in the rain...

_-B&E-_

_It's raining outside, and the girl is dressed completely inappropriately for the weather. Her dressing gown and slippers are really not suitable for running through the woods on a wet Autumn day. The sun shines pathetically through the trees, casting week glimmers on the surrounding woods, but the girl doesn't stop to take in the surrounding scenery, she was in too much of a rush to be somewhere, anywhere, as long as it wasn't back home._

_Rain splashes off the tree branches and on to the girls head. She looks up, only to get a drip right in her eye. Blinking away both the tears, and the dripping water, she takes a wrong turning at the fork of a path, and quickly finds herself lost, deep in the woods._

_Bella sits there for hours, curled up into a little ball, not at all aware of her surroundings. She spends the time miserably considering the situation back home and wondering whether people will actually notice that she's gone._

_In actual fact, her absence is noted almost straight away— when she's not around to run an errand for her mother, who wants her to take a letter down to the post office. What's more abnormal though, is that Renee simply brushes this off, in the favour of hoping she will turn up eventually. She doesn't want to look like a bad mother in front of the neighbours by having to go round asking if anyone has seen Bella._

_The matter is brought to Renee and Charlie's attention later, when Rosalie is getting ready for bed. Rose has not registered Bella's absence all day, and it only occurs to her when she goes to discuss the events of the day, that she isn't around._

_By this time, Bella has been sitting in the forest for hours. She's scared, alone, and completely lost. At first, she figures that remaining where she is and shouting for help is the best option, but it doesn't take her long to come to the conclusion that there's no one around for miles._

_Eventually, when the day is drawing to a close, and dusk is sinking down in the forest, Bella decides that making a move would be wisest._

_She clambers to her feet, and heads in the direction she thinks the path is, however unbeknownst to her, she'd managed to get herself turned around when she was curled up protectively, and is actually heading deeper into the forest. The dank woods have changed from their previous status as a comfort, to a foreboding and imposing pass. Night has truly fallen now._

_Bella quickly realizes that she must be heading in the wrong direction, and goes to turn around, but cannot see the way back. Figuring going forward is her best chance of breaking through the other side of the woods at some point, she continues on, and internally rejoices when the trees begin to thin. Stumbling into an expanse of grassland, she looks around in dismay, realizing that she has not in fact, as she had thought, come to the end of the woods._

_The second time she looks around, she is amazed at the field she has uncovered, the moonlight has given the space a mysterious, enchanted feel, and she almost expects to see Mab, Queen of the fairies, emerge from the trees leading a host of fairy folk._

_There are wildflowers growing near the edge of the wood, whilst in the middle long stalks of grass grow. Bella finds the meadow fascinating and beautiful at the same time, forgetting all her worries about being lost in the woods in her abject captivation with the meadow she has discovered._

_In the morning, when the search parties finally manage to come across her, she is sleeping peacefully, her dressing gown spread across the ground like a blanket, and the grass pulled across her in an attempt to keep warm. The search party that finds her consists of Charlie and his friend Billy— the two almost miss her, looking for a hysterical child, not one simply quietly buried in the soft grass. Neither Charlie or Billy notice the majesty of the landscape around them, mainly because they never take the time to stop and look around them, to truly consider their surroundings, but also in part because of their fears for Bella._

_Indeed, Charlie and Billy were extremely lucky to have found her, as Renee said, extremely furiously, in the aftermath: "She could have been anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. The two of you just got lucky, and got her; so don't think bringing her home is going to make it any better between us."_

_What Bella hates most is the fact that the very cause of her running away— her parents fighting— has been restarted because of her actions. She will blame herself for their fights many times over the years, considering what could have been, should have been, and indeed, would have been, if she were not around._

-B&E-

As Edward stepped out into the meadow, I could clearly see the look of shock and awe on his face. He too was falling in love with my escape from reality, just as I had been for so many years. At this time of year, the meadow really was at its most beautiful, and looking at it, it was as if I was seeing it with entirely new eyes. I could see how he would take in the green, lush grass; the daisies and dandelions that carpeted the ground, the rich purple foxgloves, that grew untrimmed near the trees. Looking at the meadow through Edward's eyes was almost as good as it had been to look through my own eyes at the meadow for the first time.

"I've never brought anyone here before, Edward," I told him, as casually as he could.

With a start, Edward turned, as if remembering I was there. He averted his eyes from drinking in the scenery and brought them to meet mine.

"Bella, it's an absolute honour to be here. Thank you so much for letting me share this with you, I can't imagine a better gift."

"There's no one else I'd rather be here with," I answered him, and it was true, there wasn't. He was one of the few people who would see the meadow for what it truly was, rather than just a pretty glade in the middle of the woods.

"It's so solitary," Edward said, as he turned full-circle, to admire everything the meadow had to offer. "But at the same time, I feel as if I'm not alone. It's like the trees and the flowers and the grass are watching me, looking over me, as if they're checking that I'm ok. God Bella, this place is amazing," Edward turned to me, laughter and disbelief clear in his voice.

I smiled at him, and gestured wordlessly to the picnic basket. No words were needed in a place like this. Edward picked up the basket, and shook out the blanket I had packed. He took me by the hand, and gently guided me into position, on the picnic blanket, in the middle of the meadow.

The grass was slightly flatter around here, from where I had previously laid, in other places, the stems would come up to my waist, but here there was a Bella-shaped indent Edward had matched the blanket to.

I sat down, getting myself comfortable, before pulling the picnic basket towards me, and patting the space next to me, gesturing for Edward to sit down. He joined me on the ground, and we both grabbed a can from the cooler inside the basket, my hand automatically going for Coke, Edward choosing the more conservative Lemonade.

Looking at each other, we laughed. Our personalities and likes were so complimentary to the other, it was really nice to have someone with whom I had enough in common to have similarities with them, but enough differences in opinion that we could actually have an interesting conversation together. Edward was quickly overtaking Alice on the 'best friend' front, despite the fact that I might be jumping the gun slightly with that.

We quietly helped ourselves to food, chatting amiably, about nothing and everything, all at the same time. I prepped him as to what school was going to be like, who to avoid, who was cool, who was off limits (although, he did seem rather disinterested in the latter); and he told me all about America, their education, and the school he used to go to. It was really interesting to hear about his life, before he came to England. Edward seemed like he had been really popular, telling me about his best friend Emmett, and a plethora of other people he was close to. He had been captain of various different clubs, and president of the debate team. I noticed however, that not once did he mention girls.

Deciding to ask him about, I voiced the question that was at the forefront of my mind: "Edward, did you have any girlfriends or even just girls who you were friends with?"

Edward thought for a second, as if choosing his words very carefully. "I had a few friends who were girls," he clarified, "but not really any girlfriends. I had a few offers from people, but I don't know. I've been looking for someone special." Edward said this sentence looking straight at me, and I felt a fire light inside of me at his words. They were so special, and he obviously meant them. But I extinguished the fire quickly knowing that special someone had to have a certain anatomical trait I didn't have.

"Can I tell you a secret, Bella?" Edward's voice lowered at this, his eyes dropping to the blanket we sat on, as if ashamed.

"Sure Edward." I placed my hand over Edward's, which was clenched in the material of the blanket.

"I've never even kissed anyone Bella, and I'm too scared to try, in case I mess up. There's never really been anyone that I wanted to kiss before."

My head snapped up at the word 'before', but I dismissed my thoughts as wishful thinking. I was clearly misinterpreting Edward's meaning.

"Edward, I've never kissed anyone before, apart from a guy called Tyler in year 1, who I kissed on the cheek because he pulled out my chair for me. I had to stay in at break for being 'inappropriate'."

Edward laughed with me, and he relaxed his posture. I lay back on the blanket, and looked up at the sky. Edward in an extremely cliché gesture, pointed up to the sky and said: "Look, that cloud is so clearly a cat, that's unbelievable!"

"Edward, don't be stupid. That's obviously a giraffe!" I responded with an exasperated sigh. Sure enough, the neck of the cat-giraffe stretched even more, and Edward admitted defeat.

After a while, Edward's tone changed. I looked towards him, and he blinked at me. "What," he said.

"Nothing, never mind."

"Look," Edward said, gesturing towards one particular cloud, an odd tone heavy in his voice.

I looked towards the cloud he was gesturing to, but couldn't see any shapes concealed within it.

"I don't see any shapes! What does that one look like to you?"

Edward turned towards me, "Bella, that one looks like a heart."

I looked up towards Edward's heart again, and he followed my gaze with his eyes. As we watched, the heart split in two down the middle, and each half drifted away, merging into the other clouds. A grey haze rolled over the sky, and a rain drop fell on the tip of my nose. Looking at the other, Edward and I clambered to our feet, putting the foreboding omen of the heart splitting in two, just as the sky clouded over and the rain began behind us, as we headed home.

**A/N: Reviews are better than heart-shaped clouds, leave one?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Scar: Well we got the least amounts of reviews ever for the last chapter which was depressing! What do you think, Ihatejacob?**

**Ihatejacob1: That is pretty sad :( review more!**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**I actually started writing this with no idea whatsoever how it would end up, but I think that you'll enjoy the way it turns out... ;)**

Time passed, and it flew by. Edward was my savior, my godsend, and my best friend. Alice and Jasper got together in a complete fluke, as he rescued her when her car broke down on a stretch of deserted road. She was sitting, shivering, when his car happened to pass by. He offered to drive her home, when the weather took a turn for the worst. They had to stay overnight in a motel, where they got together. I haven't seen Alice long enough for her to spill the details, because she's constantly with Jasper, but I'm guessing that she took Jasper's virginity.

While Alice, on the one hand, has slept around a lot over the years, being Jasper's cousin means that I know everything about him, and I know for sure, that (at least up until now) he's never done _it _with anyone.

While being Jasper's cousin has a lot of perks, it also has its downsides- pictures of Jasper and I sharing baths at about 3 years old. Alice finds them adorable, but I think she looks at them as an excuse to see Jasper topless.

Well anyway, Jasper and Alice being together has left me with no one to hang out with but Edward. It's such a horrible thought though, that if Edward hadn't come to England when he did, I would have been left by myself, with no one to spend time with, when Alice and Jasper got together. I don't like to think about it too often, because it makes me cringe. Imagining a life without Edward is not something I like to do, even though he's only really been here for 5 weeks.

The Summer Holidays are almost over now, and Edward will be coming to school with me for the very first time here in England. He's absolutely crapping himself, because he will literally know no one. I feel kinda bad for monopolizing him so much that he's not met anyone else, but I'm a little worried that when he meets everyone else, he's going to realize that I'm actually not that awesome, and leave me for someone else.

_God, I sound like an overprotective girlfriend!_

And I suppose, from an outsider's point of view, that's what it would look like. Edward and I were inseparable, and to anyone who didn't know the full story, it might look like we're dating. Unfortunately, I knew the truth— Edward would never so much as look at me that way, all I am to him is a friend. And that's the way I need to see him as well.

The down side is that I'm in love with him.

Yeah, it makes things pretty difficult for me, but it's ok. I just have to accept that despite the fact that I've fallen hard and fast for Edward, (and yeah, I know, it's very fast) we have no chance of a future together. Yay, lucky me.

At first, I tried to pass it off as a simple crush, I mean after all, with his dazzling emerald eyes, and pristine smile, he is devastatingly gorgeous. I have a feeling that I won't be the only heart he breaks.

Then, I tried to work myself up to telling him, and I considered that for about a week. It seemed like the right course of action then, because I mean, Edward deserved to know. But then I realized, it's not like one of my sappy romance novels, where the heroine tells the love interest how she feels just in case he loves her back, and he invariably does, and they live happy ever after. No, this time, the heroine _knows _there's no chance that the love interest feels the same way about her, and is ruining their friendship for purely selfish motives.

Needless to say _that _idea was scrapped very quickly.

In the end, I just figured acting normal was the best way to go, and I have been doing my best ever since. It's hard though, so hard, to smile and laugh at the silly little stuff Edward says, when inside, all I want to do is hug him and kiss him and ask him to stay with me forever.

Maybe it would make it easier on me if Edward acted more gay, or something, because at the moment, it's hard to even picture him with a guy, purely because I've never seen it. But I have pictures of him with his arm slung around me, pulling me close (well I have one picture anyway, that lives on my bedside table) and it's so clear in my head, and when I'm with him, everything feels so _real _and _pure. _What kind of a person would be so cruel as to give me this kind of connection between myself and another person, and yet twist it so harshly, that it will be forever limited?

I don't know, I really don't know. Obviously fate has a shitty sense of humour.

I heard a knock on the door, which could only be either Rose's or my mum's. My dad was at an overnight conference with work, which only left the two of them.

"Come in," I shouted, not minding the fact that I was in my bra and knickers in front of them.

"Hey Bella, your mum let me in. I just wanted to drop round and,_ holy shit!_" Edward's words said it all, as I screamed, and frantically looked round for something to cover myself with, before settling for simply facing the other way.

"Edward! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that it was you, I thought it was Rose or my mum!" I apologized frantically; annoyed with myself for letting this happen.

"No, Bella, it's my fault, I should have knocked before barging in. Hell, you wouldn't have even known I was in the house!" Edward's voice was down, he was obviously blaming himself for this, when it wasn't really anyone's fault. He was stammering awkwardly, and I could imagine his cheeks were bright red.

We both chanced a look over our shoulders at the same time, and laughed, as our eyes made contact with each other's.

"God, Bella, I'm so sorry. I came over to tell you that I'm having a party, and that I wanted your help planning it. I really don't know many people, and because school is about to start, I'd like to get to know a few other people. I don't even know your friends Jasper and Alice that well, purely because they spend all their time with each other now, and no one else! It seems like they aren't being very good friends."

Edward's words were so passionately spoken, and so reminiscent of everything I had been thinking about before he came, that I forgot my state of undress and flew across the room to embrace him.

"Edward, that really does mean so much to me." I exclaimed; then realized that my exuberant reaction seemed a little odd.

At first, Edward had gently embraced me, hands fluttering awkwardly as he decided on an innocent place to put them, but when I spoke, his hands came up to embrace me, and he pulled me firmly into him. With my breasts pushed up against Edward's chest, I smiled up into his eyes. I absently wondered why he was so flustered if he was gay...

Edward smiled back, but his face was strained, and he averted his gaze almost immediately. He gently but firmly pushed me away from his chest, and for a second I thought that I had crossed some sort of personal boundary that he had, and he was going to tell me he didn't want to hang out with me anymore. Then his hands came up and began to unbutton his shirt, and I was left breathless. Edward wrapped his shirt around me and gently guided my hands through the arm holes, all the while keeping the front closed and preserving my modesty. I had never been so scantily clad in front of a guy before.

"There we go," Edward said, when his shirt was done up around my frame; it hit mid-thigh and was perfectly respectable. "Get rid of the temptation, eh?"

I must have looked at him very confusedly, because he shook his head, and changed the subject abruptly. Ahh well, my brain wasn't working properly— I was too busy drinking in the sight of Edward shirtless.

Let me just tell you this, ladies, Edward works out. He must to, because he has some _serious _muscle. We're talking a 6-pack here, and I'll tell you, it was glorious.

-B&E-

_Edward was lying next to me on my bed, his chest pressed up against my back, and his mouth tucked in to my neck. His breathing tickled my ear, and I could hear each of his soft inhalations. I counted each breath he took, treasuring it, remembering it. I think that subconsciously I knew that this was a rare opportunity, even though my unconscious mind did not know why._

_Edward moved his head, until it was angled in such a way that every breath he took ticked my earlobe, and as I became more and more conscious of my body, I became aware of the lack of clothes covering the two of us. We were enveloped in a thick blanket, but between us, there was nothing._

_I could feel something, pressed up against my lower back, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was, well it was _Edward. _At least, it was a certain bit of him anyway. The way he was angled, he was tantalizingly close to where I would always ache for him. Yeah, not only was I in love with Edward beyond anything, but I also wanted him in a way that I'd never wanted a person before._

_Edward shifted, yet again, but this time he was much more on top of me, his body pressing down, covering me. Expecting to feel claustrophobic, I automatically shifted, and _Edward shifted back. _The friction was beyond anything that I had ever felt before, even when I touched myself. His heat pressed up against my heat, his body lined up with mine, and his warm breath, whispering down my neck; I was in heaven, and unable to control myself, I slowly parted my legs, and shifted, just a fraction._

_Edward _moaned, _and shifted again, bringing himself up between my legs, and sliding just along my lower lips. It was heaven and hell, sin and lust, all wrapped up in one parcel of ecstasy. I couldn't have stopped myself, even if I had been truly aware of my actions, and before I knew it, I was running my lips along his shaft, as Edward moaned, clearly still deep in __slumber._

_Gathering the courage for a more courageous, larger movement, Edward surprised me as he thrust his hips into my ass, moving his cock quickly between my legs. The moisture pooled, and I'm sure that some of it dripped down on to his cock. As if he read my thoughts, Edward moaned and rubbed his cock right over where I needed it, my clit._

_We both began to get into things much more, as our hips moved in unison, both of us working to bring the other to a release. I could tell now, that these were not the unconscious movements of an Edward encased in slumber, these were the purposeful and confident movements of an Edward who knew what he wanted, and was out to get it._

_Yeah, you heard me, Edward was awake and not pushing me away in disgust!_

"_Bella, I'm in love with you." Edward's voice was a breathy moan, and in that instance, everything I'd ever wanted (or at least that's how it felt) came true._

_I slipped one hand down, to cover my clit and work it as Edward moved in-between my thighs..._

_-B&E-_

… and that's how I woke up, one hand soaked in the moisture from between my legs, the other fondling my breast. I was half on my back and half on my side, and while normally I would have quickly and efficiently got myself off, today I was too disappointed to be bothered. Edward wasn't here, he wasn't straight, and worst of all _he wasn't in love with me._

I climbed out of bed, grabbed some clothes and headed downstairs, to make myself some breakfast. Edward's shirt was still in my room, well it was hidden under my pillow anyway, and I was 99% sure that was what had lead to me dreaming so vividly. Smelling him all night had clearly played havoc with my subconscious!

-B&E-

Edward was already at the restaurant when I arrived, although I was 10 minutes early. We were meeting Alice and Jasper there, although I didn't know much about it. Edward and Jasper had sorted it out between the two of them, and Edward had simply told me where to turn up, when and what to wear. I had followed my instructions to the letter, and I had even gone out of my way to find a dress that was blue, Edward's favourite colour.

I thought I looked alright, but judging from the way Edward was staring at me as I walked through the doors of the restaurant, I must have looked pretty dire. Self consciously patting myself down to check that nothing was in the wrong place, or on view when it shouldn't be on view, but in my brief check, I found nothing untoward. I was about to take a seat in the restaurant next to Edward, when he jumped up and pulled my chair out for me.

I looked at Edward in surprised, loving the gesture, but hating the thought that he might feel obliged to spend time with me, or something like that.

"Bella, wow, you look amazing!" Edward informed me, leaning in to quietly murmur in my ear.

I blushed scarlet, and Edward chuckled, stroking my cheek with one hand. "I treasure every one of your blushes, they're so beautiful."

Blushing even more, Alice caught my eye from where she had just sat down across the table. She made a succession of rapid hand movements, in which she was obviously trying to convey a message to me, and was expecting me to understand.

Naturally, I had no idea what she was going on about, and I simply shrugged my shoulders back at her. Alice's response to this was to sigh, and then to announce to the table that she and I were going to the toilet. Edward and Jasper simultaneously rolled their eyes at her.

I followed Alice out to the ladies, where she immediately started squealing and jumping up and down.

"Oh my god, Bella, this is so totally a date! I can't believe I haven't noticed it before, you're so oblivious, Bella. Don't you _see?" _Alice was clearly high on something, she looked like a demented pixie jumping around in this pretty flowing skirt and camisole ensemble. However, despite this, I had absolutely no idea what she was going on about.

"Alice, first off, Edward is gay, we've already ascertained this. Second, I have no idea what you're talking about. See what, exactly? What am I missing?" I responded in such a monotonous tone, that Alice actually stopped bouncing around, and turned to face me.

This time, Alice spoke slowly and clearly, as if addressing a 4 year-old. "Bella, you are missing everything. Jazz told me that Edward and him had sorted out an informal date between the four of us, but that's not what's important. What's important is the way Edward is looking at you. That boy is falling for you—and falling hard and fast."

I looked at Alice for about 30 seconds, while she shifted under my penetrative gaze, before finally responding.

"Alice, Edward is not in love with me because he's _gay. _That means he likes boys, not girls. Penises, not vaginas. In conclusion, he can't like me because I'm the wrong sex, and I know that it's hard and everything, but I just have to deal with that."

I realized a millisecond after the words had left my mouth, that I had given away more then I meant to. Alice would immediately guess from my response that I was in love with him, and from the look on her face, she already had.

"Oh my god, you... him... you and him... you _love him_!" Alice's scattered words were a result of her practically hyperventilating, and while to anyone else, this would have looked insanely odd, I was quite used to it by now.

I sighed, but then decided that having Alice in the know was probably a good thing, and simply nodded an affirmative. Alice went berserk.

"Youlovehimasndyoudidn'ttellme?_ Isabella Marie Swan how could you_?"

I cringed from Alice's piercing voice, and upon noticing this, Alice immediately changed her tune. She enveloped me within her arms and pulled me into her for a hug.

Whispering in my ear, she said, "I can't believe you have a crush on a boy! I'm so proud of you Bells." She then continued on in an even quieter voice, "He's perfect for you."

I basked in the warmth of Alice's words, but ignored the stark reality that she had yet to address, the simple fact that Edward was gay.

-B&E-

When I arrived home from the restaurant, I was completely and utterly blissed out. I had had the most wonderful evening, and I was just sad that it was over. Edward and I had plans to meet up with Alice and Jasper tomorrow to finalize some plans for the party, but all in all, we had come up with a shitload of ideas between the four of us.

The party to introduce Edward to the rest of the school was complex, but if it went well, it was going to be amazing! The party was set to be held at Edward's house, but Japser was in charge of music, Alice was in charge of decorating and I was in charge of food. Edward simply had to get his parents out of the house for the weekend. A matter that was looking harder and harder to achieve each minute.

Hearing my phone go off on the other side of the room, I hurried over to get it, hoping it was a text from Edward. His name flashed up on my screen, and I smiled in delight.

_'Can I call you?'_

Simple, and to the point. Edward was nothing if not concise. I pressed green on my phone, and listened to the beeps as my mobile rang Edward's.

"Bella!" Edward's voice was happy and he sounded really pleased that I'd phoned, which was always nice.

"Edward! You wanted to talk to me?" I replied cautiously, not sure as to what he wanted to discuss.

"Ah, nothing bad." Edward had obviously sensed my hesitancy from my tone.

"Oh good," I said, more relieved now.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the party. My parents are going to be out of town this weekend, and although it's soon, we won't get this chance again." Edward's voice sounded so hopeful that I was reluctant to point out the very obvious flaw in his plan.

"Edward! It's Monday today, and you're suggesting we organize this in a week?" My words were laced in disbelief and scepticism. Not even Alice could pull off something that fast.

"Please Bella, we could get it all done if we work together! It's not even going to be that hard. Create an invitation on facebook, and that's your people invited, get some party food from the supermarket, and Jasper's got the music. Alice could decorate my house in a day, never mind a week!" Edward wanted this so much, it was hard not to just agree with everything he said.

"Well the party will have to be on Saturday, when are your parents leaving?"

"They're going Friday, around dinner time." Again, another factor working against us.

"How do you seriously expect us to get everything set up in like 10 hours? That's impossible Edward! Even if we came round first thing Saturday morning, we'd still have no chance!"

"Well here's what I figured, if you three stayed at my house Friday night, then everything would be fine. Alice and Jasper could have the spare bedroom, I'd take the couch downstairs, and you could have my bedroom. Or if you'd like, me and you could share, I'd love to spend some more time with you Bella, I'm completely enamoured with you, you're amazing. Tell me if you're not comfortable with it or anything, but I'd really love to spend the night with you."

_Well holy crap!_


End file.
